Family matters
by Eyghon
Summary: Post BTF. Syd helps Irina find a cure for Nadia while dealing with unresolved issues in her personnal life. Namely, Vaughn, and how far she is willing to go to help her sister.
1. Prologue

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

**Author's notes:** Takes place two months after the episode 'Before the flood'. Sydney, Nadia and Irina centric.

**Summary:** Sydney's world got rocked by the aftermath of Sovogda. Many issues are left unresolved in both her personal and professional life. Since the accident, she took over her father's job as Co Director of APO and has been ignoring Vaughn. For now, she's faced with a new challenge; she must help Irina find a cure for Nadia, but how far is she willing to go to save her sister?

Prologue 

Sydney was walking to her car, handbag in one hand and a grocery bag in the other. She stopped in mid stride to fetch her ringing cell phone from her handbag.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Sydney."

"Mom," breathed Sydney, recognizing immediately the familiar voice. "Where are you?" It had been two months since they had last seen each other. Ever since finding her in that pit, Sydney had been worried about her. She was not in great physical condition, which made her very vulnerable. To top that, supposedly dead, she had no means of protection other than herself.

"That's why I was calling actually. To warn you I'm here. I need to see you."

"Uh…yeah, sure. I guess we could arrange that, but I'm kind of…shadowed at the moment."

"I know. See you soon darling." Irina hung up, her eyes never leaving Sydney. Her daughter looked warily around her before progressing toward the darkened parking lot. 'Smart girl', thought Irina, certain Sydney had sensed her presence and was pretending as though nothing was wrong, for the benefit of her watchdogs. Her heart warmed at the prospect of seeing her daughter face to face again. Their last encounter had been spoiled by the 'end of the world' situation. She hoped they could spend some real quality time with each other now.

Arvin Sloane was out of the picture, though Irina didn't know who really had him: CIA, NSC, DSR, APO…the possibilities were endless. She was back in the game, hence her knowledge of Arvin's current predicament among other things. Apparently, Jack letting her escape had cost him the post vacated by Sloane. Marcus Dixon had inherited it and was now acting as Director of APO. He had chosen Sydney as Co Director, the job Jack had before being demoted.

Irina was happy her daughter had taken the position. It meant no fieldwork, upping her daughter's chances of survival beyond the age of forty.

From what she had gathered, the CIA higher ups were happy with the way the secret division ran with two acting directors since its launch and had decided to keep it that way. Their only request was that Jack Bristow be kept out of any position of power within all American three lettered agencies. His career seemed doomed, even as a field agent, he was not trusted enough by his superiors to be sent on anything other than recon missions. He was too uncontrollable for their liking.

Since the Sloane debacle, the CIA didn't take kindly to its people having a hidden agenda. The next more logical choice in terms of experience in the field and years of serving was Agent Sydney Bristow, at Chase's dismay. The woman was convinced all agents part of the team intervening in Sovogda were accomplices of Irina Derevko's escape. Director Dixon and she seemed close; the man had convinced her to back off Sydney a little. Irina remembered she wanted to meet the man someday. He seemed quite invested in her daughter's life, for a long time.

The US government thought their little secret agency and its staff's identities were indeed, secrets, but they were dead wrong. In this business, 'secret' had no meaning whatsoever.

Though she was happy to see Sydney in her element, out of CIA custody that is, she was not the main reason Irina was in Los Angeles. Nadia was. Despite extensive research, threats and blackmail, she couldn't find any information on her youngest daughter's status. She hoped Sydney could enlighten her and would be willing to do so. Surely, her daughter wouldn't keep her in the dark, national security or not.

She was worried about both her daughters actually. Many things had happened since Sovogda. She wanted to know how Nadia was doing and how Sydney was coping with everything that had happened in both her personal and professional life since then.

Michael Vaughn was also out of the picture. It was Irina, who suggested he tell the truth, but she hadn't expected it to have such repercussions. She would have to talk to her daughter about this issue but wasn't in a hurry to find out what Sydney thought of her mother's role in this particular mess.

Sydney didn't see anything unusual as she approached her car but knew better than to trust appearances. Her mother was there, nearby. She could feel her eyes on her.

Two agents were waiting for her in a sedan parked on the other side of the street. They were APO personnel since Sydney was not officially CIA anymore. They were here under the pretense of being her bodyguards. Being Co-Director of APO warranted such measures, but she knew Chase asked them for a detailed weekly report of her activities. She didn't mind though. She had given up the illusion of privacy long ago. Chase could scrutinize her every move all she wanted, the young woman had nothing to hide.

Being part of a black ops division was great. Leading it was bliss. She had to report to a higher director of course, that being Chase, but she was free to do anything she pleased to get the job done, and she got to handpick her personnel among the finest agents America had to offer. Working alongside Dixon as an equal was an added bonus. They often were on the same page and got along well. Overall, they made the perfect team.

Sydney had been under surveillance ever since she and the rest of her team had come back from Sovogda without Irina Derevko. The agents had merely stopped trying to hide since she had taken over the position of Co Director. Her teammates were under surveillance as well but none of them really minded either. When they wanted privacy, it was always easy to ditch their tails, though they were scolded at for doing so the next day.

Sighing, she approached her SUV and used the remote control to unlock the doors. Even off duty, she was always on guard. An open door that was supposed to be locked was enough of a reason for her to draw her gun. One was never too careful enough in this line of work. Paranoia was not a flaw but a skill that could save your life.

Her mother's phone call had made her curious and nervous. She was expecting her to pop out of the bushes anytime now and it kept her on edge. If Irina was willing to take the risk to come to LA, it must be important business. She was confident the woman would find a way to see her face to face without compromising Sydney's position at APO but she was on the look out nonetheless.

She heard the satisfying 'clank' of the doors unlocking and dumped her groceries in the trunk. She glanced in her rear view mirror as she backed out of her parking space and saw nothing but darkness. Sighing, she checked that her fellow agents were on her tail and turned on the CD player. She then proceeded to make her way back home, still seemingly unaware of the woman lying in the back of her SUV.

TBC


	2. Chapter 1: Slipping in

FAMILY MATTERS 

Eyghon

**Author's notes:** Thanks to Lenafan for sticking with me and beta reading this story!

**Chapter 1: Slipping in  
**

"You can get up now," said Sydney a few minutes after leaving the Mini Mart parking lot. She heard a rustling and her mother slid in the passenger seat beside her. "The agents didn't see you get in?"

"Of course not," smiled Irina, inwardly thankful for the lot's bad lighting and the car's tinted windows.

Sydney stopped at a red light and took the opportunity to scrutinize her mother. She looked better than the last time they had seen each other, in Sovogda. Two months ago, Irina had looked so thin and frail. Now she seemed more like the woman Sydney had met in Taipei, all muscles and strength. Irina smiled at her and lifted her hand to Sydney's cheek. It's the closest she dared to go for now.

Irina had not let Sydney touch her on the flight back from Guatemala because the memories of her imprisonment and subsequent torture were too vivid to bear any physical contact. Now that she was more clear headed, she scolded herself for being so touchy and throwing away such an opportunity. Sydney had reached out to her and she had refused what solace Sydney had offered then.

On the other hand, none of what happened to her during her time in Elena's custody absolved her of anything prior to that. She vividly remembered the circumstances of their last meeting, in Mexico City. She also remembered hitting Sydney and then knocking her down with a taser. She had shown no mercy, why would Sydney?

Now, that moment from the plane was gone, but Irina hoped there would be others. She wouldn't reach out; she would wait for Sydney to do so, again. She didn't want to get her hopes up and come crashing down afterwards. It would be too painful; she wasn't mentally strong enough yet to take a rebuff from her daughter. 'Have no expectations' is a rule she scrupulously observed. It had saved her many disappointments.

For all she knew, Sydney had come back to her senses and wanted nothing to do with her mother, whom she might still hate. That theory went to hell as soon as Sydney returned her gesture, surprising them both. Her daughter's hand touched her cheek, softly, as if she feared she might break her.

"It's been two months. I was worried," confessed Sydney. "Did you get out of Sovogda okay?" she asked, curious, as she pulled away from the now green light, her fellow agents still tailing her.

Irina snapped out of her daze and reality came crashing down. "Yes. Russian militaries are as incompetent as CIA agents. Present company excluded."

Sydney smirked, glad to see her mother was back in business. "Thanks. Why did you want to see me?" She asked, though she knew the answer.

"How is Nadia?" Irina got to the point.

Sydney sighed, unsure how to answer. The issue was so complicated and painful. "I…she…" Irina was looking at her with such eagerness and worry. "Do you want to see her?" She finally blurted out.

"Yes," replied Irina, a bit taken aback by the offer.

Sydney nodded and a few minutes later Irina noticed they were going to the suburbs area instead of the Naval hospital like she had expected. She trusted Sydney could easily get her in Nadia's room incognito even if it was a CIA controlled hospital. "Where are we going?" She voiced her concerns, puzzled.

"My place." Sydney hit speed dial three on her cell phone and put it on speaker, most likely for Irina's benefit who might worry about her daughter turning her in. After a few rings, an awfully cheesy and high-pitched voice answered, "Bristow Santos residence, this is Sydney speaking."

Sydney couldn't help but chuckle at her best friend's antics. "I so don't speak like that! Are you aware that my father sometimes uses this number to reach me?"

"Argh, way to kill the fun. Sorry, I was bored. I saw your number on the screen so I guessed you wanted to speak to me and thought I would spare us both the pain of having to listen to your answering machine's message."

"What's wrong with my message?"

"Nothing. It's just that after the hundredth time it gets annoying. A certain green eyed French guy didn't get the 'I'm absent' part of the message and has been calling for hours."

Sydney caught her breath, wincing. "So I guess he's free huh. Well, I'm headed home. Just unhook the cord from the wall and get back to your place."

"Its fine, I'll wait until you get there. But I'm okay with the 'killing the phone' part of your plan."

"No, don't bother waiting; I'm just a few minutes away. You can leave now."

"Seriously Syd, I can stick around five more minutes…I'll feel more comfortable that way."

"Well I don't."

"Are you bringing back someone you don't want me to see? You naughty, naughty girl. Is it a she? Cause that would be totally hot, and totally okay, and I wouldn't tell anyone. I swear."

Sydney rolled her eyes, used to Weiss's obsession over women having sexual intercourse together. "Weiss, it's late, I'm tired, you're tired; let's leave it at that. Thanks for volunteering for the evening, you're sweet, but now it's time for you to get some rest."

"Well, actually, I haven't finished my ice cream pint yet, so I can't leave before I reach the bottom, so I guess I'll see you in five." Sydney shook her head, snorting. Weiss went on, "Hey, you said to make myself at home, that's what I did. You should know better than to tell me something like that by now. Have you bought that new flavour I told you about the other day?"

"Yeah, I did. I actually took two cartons so you can bring one for your place and keep one at mine."

"Oh, you're the sweetest! Marry me?"

"You're like…my brother, that would be so wrong. In addition, you've got a thing for my sister. Huge. Gross. No really, not going to happen. And, about your unfinished ice cream, guess what? You can take it home and finish it there. And you're welcome to take the spoon with you."

"Thanks, I hadn't thought of that," he replied, serious. "Just tell me who it is and I'll be on my way. Is she a hottie? You know I could just ask the guys parked in the street, I'm sure they would tell me."

"What guys?"

"Duh, your so called bodyguards," he replied, emphasizing the word 'bodyguards', aware that they were more like watch dogs than anything else.

"They're right behind me," replied Sydney, checking in her rear view mirror to make sure.

"Oh...right, sorry. I guess those are 'my' guys then. I sound so gay. My mistake, they all look the same. Anyway, I'm sure they wouldn't mind telling me who you're bringing with you…"

Sydney hit the wheel in frustration. She hadn't realised the agents in charge of Weiss's surveillance would see her enter her apartment with Irina. She had planned on losing her tail in the maze of streets around her neighbourhood and get to her place before the agents realised she was headed home. With Weiss's watchdogs, her plan was useless.

"Eric." He snapped his mouth shut, immediately going into 'trouble mode' Sydney rarely called him by his first name, and when she did, it meant business. "I need you to take your car and go for a drive, just for five minutes."

"You want me to move the agents from the street."

Sydney sighed. The last thing she wanted was involve her best friend in something that could send him to solitary for the rest of his life…but there was no way Irina could get past the agents watching the building. "Yeah. Exactly. I can lose my tail but if your babysitters are standing watch in front of my door it's useless."

"Okay," he agreed, not asking for an explanation. It was best if he didn't know what, or whom, Sydney wanted to hide so badly.

"Great, you're the best. But do something, like go buy some Vodka or rent a movie, so they don't get suspicious."

"You got it. If you need me again, ring me on my cell."

"Will do. Thanks Weiss."

"You're welcome. Don't forget to put the two pints of ice cream in your fridge or it will melt. I'll drop by tomorrow or whenever you want to pick up the one for my fridge."

"Okay," agreed Sydney, smiling at her friend's sense of priorities.

A few minutes later Irina was inside her daughters' apartment, safely away from the CIA's prying eyes. Sydney had easily lost her tail and they had seen Weiss's car pass an intersection two streets ahead of them, his tail right behind him.

Irina looked around her carefully, taking in the atmosphere. There were a few pictures, recent, she could tell, of her daughter with various people. One of her with Jack made Irina frown in disapproval, though Sydney missed it. It seemed so formal, like they were two business associates posing for a serious magazine.

She smiled as she spotted one of her two daughters with Agent Vaughn and Agent Weiss, whom she knew from shooting him, accidentally. An abstract painting was facing a picture of the two sisters alone on the beach, smiling like schoolgirls. The kitchen was in order and a vase filled with fresh flowers stood on the counter.

"Nice place."

"Thank you," replied Sydney, not expecting that kind of reaction from her mother. "Weiss found it for me when I came back. He lives in the same complex and it's close to the beach. Nadia helped decorating it. When I was on my own it was kind of…bare."

"You had nothing to decorate it with?"

"No pictures, no ornaments brought from a vacation…nothing." Sydney lowered her eyes, thinking of all the insignificant stuffs that decorated her previous home but that had so much meaning. A shell brought from a vacation in Morocco with Francie, one of the first time she had been abroad for something else than business. A candleholder in modeling clay made by Robin for Sydney's birthday many years ago…pictures. Lots of pictures. Pictures of a lifetime. Of kindergarten, of high school friends, of her in her first car, of Danny, Francie, Will…all had been lost in the fire.

"You know I have some pictures I could give you if you want them."

"Pictures?" asked Sydney, puzzled.

"Yes, I got them from the time you were little. I used to take them to the store to be developed, and I always made doubles so I could…take them with me when I left. I also have quite a lot of you and your friends during your teenager years and also more recent ones."

"How…wait, you had me followed?"

"No. I'm not talking about surveillance photos. I'm talking about those you deposited at the Mini Mart. I paid the employee in charge to develop an additional roll for me each time a film came in. Over the years I went through a dozen different technicians and they all agreed to do it."

"Oh. Thank you, I guess." Irina smiled, nodding in acknowledgement. Sydney was overwhelmed. She was so happy to be able to get her precious pictures back! Maybe she could tell her mother the stories that went with the pictures someday. However, Irina wasn't here for that now. "Come on, follow me."

Sydney led her to one of the three closed doors Irina had spotted earlier. It was Nadia's room, and Nadia was lying in the bed, covered by a blue comforter. A night-light projected an equally blue glow on the ceiling, illuminating the young woman's soft features. Irina was in awe. Her youngest child seemed so peaceful. She looked nothing like the people her mother had crossed path with in the ravaged streets of Sovogda. Irina sat on the bed, watching the young woman.

After a few minutes, Sydney came back in the room though Irina hadn't noticed her leaving. She quietly motioned for her mother to follow her outside and closed the door behind them.

In the kitchen, Sydney poured them some tea and waited for Irina to talk.

"She looks…alright."

Sydney nodded, understanding to what her mother was referring. In Sovogda, the only sign betraying Nadia's condition were her reddish eyes, the set of her features and her zombie-like general attitude. Now, lying asleep in her bed, Nadia looked nothing like an animal, more like a child peacefully dreaming.

Irina was hanging on to a thin hope that maybe, maybe APO had found a cure for Nadia and that she was fine and the way she was before the infection. Sydney had the unappealing role of the bad news breaker.

"They tried everything with her. They put her in induced coma for a week when we came back. Then when she recovered from her bullet wound, she woke up. It was bad, Mom. It was really bad." She rubbed her face with both hands, voice quivering as she recalled the hard weeks she had spent watching her sister's self-destructive attitude. "They kept her in a padded cell for weeks. She would bang her head on the door, throw her body against the walls…they tied her to her bed to keep her from injuring herself. They gave her all sorts of injections…it changed nothing. She was in so much pain, I could tell, and I could do nothing to help her…I just stood there and watched…it was horrible…"

"Sydney there was nothing you could have done. And she's here now," gently interrupted Irina.

"Mom…they never found a cure," Sydney revealed somberly. "The effects just…dissipated on their own. Her eyes went back to normal within six weeks after the contamination."

"But she's not back to her normal self, mentally speaking, is she?" Irina asked softly.

"No. They…the doctors, they said her brains functions had been irreversibly affected by the contaminated water. They said she'd never be the same again. That she could never recover, no matter what we did. I couldn't bear to see her in this hospital so I brought her home and I'm taking care of her now. It's a full time job. Weiss helps out a lot but it's so…draining. She walks around the apartment like a zombie; she doesn't speak much. Sometimes I'm not even sure she understands me…call me selfish but it's killing me to see her like that."

"Sydney, with time she will get better…"

"No, she won't. Didn't you hear what I said? The doctors, the surgeons, the physicians and neurologists, they all said no recovery was possible. And don't you think I tried everything? That I didn't look everywhere on Earth for the best people? The best treatments? She's my sister! Or I wish she was…"

"Of course you did, Sweetheart! Of course, you did everything you could. Sydney, I'm not questioning your actions or your abilities as a sister, I'm only trying to offer comfort…" The reference to Nadia's paternity stung but Irina choose to ignore it. Sydney was upset alright, but her mother would not apologize for an affair she had almost thirty years ago. It was between Jack and her.

"I don't want comfort! I want my sister back!" Burst out Sydney, sobbing hysterically and spilling words as they came into her head. "I have to protect myself from her you know? Because sometimes she gets violent, she attacks me like she did in Sovogda. Out of the blue, she just…jumps on the nearest person. I lock myself into my bedroom at night because I'm afraid she'll kill me in my sleep. My own sister!"

"Sydney…"

"Sometimes, she gets so…angry, like a beast…," Sydney continued, unseeing as she made motions with her shaking hands. "The doctors gave me some sedatives to calm her down when she's too much for me to handle. They told me to tie her to her bed if the drugs weren't strong enough! And I did!"

Sydney was on verge of a nervous breakdown. Knowing how stubborn she was, Irina knew her daughter had probably never told anyone about this. She had kept it all bottled up inside and it was eating away at her.

"And sometimes she can be so sweet, she just comes and sits with me and puts her head on my shoulder…and I feel like it was before. But it never lasts. It never lasts." Sydney became quiet and so did her crying, which was worse than full out sobs from Irina's point of view. Her shoulders were shaking from the exertion. Irina couldn't bear to see her child in pain and tentatively reached out to hug her. Sydney let her.

They must have stayed like that for several minutes, until Irina gently helped her daughter up from the couch and led her to what she assumed was her bedroom.

Soon, Sydney fell asleep and Irina lingered a few hours, happy to be able to hold her in her arms and provide her with some comfort. She was as empty as her daughter, but she had to be the strong one.

She was Mom after all.

TBC


	3. Chapter 2: Puzzle

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

Chapter 2: Puzzle 

The next day, Sydney frowned as she awoke in her mother's arms. She slowly sat up and rubbed her face with her hands. Irina reluctantly got up but smiled. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah…" Sydney cleared her throat. Her voice was hoarse from crying the previous night. She felt embarrassed for letting herself crumble in front of Irina Derevko, but damn that had felt good. "I should get breakfast ready, Nadia must be up already. I'm sure you're impatient to see her awake."

They went to the kitchen and found Nadia huddled on the couch, distractedly watching some cartoon on TV. Sydney kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, Nadia." She only got a smile in response but it was more than on the average day. Nadia smiled often but without reason. In that instance, she had smiled in response to her sister's greeting. She was very aware this morning and her big sister was glad.

There were good days and bad days. Today, Sydney didn't feel up to dealing with Nadia's tantrums and she was relieved to see her sister seemed in good shape, for now.

She went to work on breakfast and politely refused her mother's offer to help. Irina went to sit with Nadia and laughed with her as Jerry once again escaped Tom. Sydney frowned and shook her head before flipping over the last row of pancakes.

"Breakfast is ready," she called out a minute later, while setting up glasses and plates on the table. It felt so odd and so warming to prepare breakfast for her mother and sister. If not for her father's absence, it could have been called a family breakfast.

It was a quiet meal, participants happy to just eat and stare at their own plate. Nadia ate with her hands while Irina and Sydney favoured knife and fork. Done, Nadia started fidgeting impatiently until Sydney got up and helped her wash her hands.

One hour later both Sydney and Irina had taken a shower and now it seemed a good time to talk.

Both sat in the kitchen, Nadia within their line of sight. Irina went straight to the point. "Sydney, I want to do some research of my own about Nadia's condition, see if I can find something that would help, but I need information first. I need to know what the doctors did, what they found when they ran those tests you mentioned?"

"Pretty much nothing," she sighed. "I could get you her medical records, but I doubt it would help. We did everything and looked everywhere already."

"It's worth a try. I have resources that even APO doesn't have. When can you get me those files? I can't stay in Los Angeles too long."

"What?" Asked Sydney, worried that her mother was just about to walk out the door and leave her alone again, with a disconnected sister for only company.

"I understand you got promoted, I don't want to jeopardize your standing within your agency by being caught in your apartment."

Sydney couldn't help but smile. Rescued from her evil sister barely two months ago, Irina was already back in the game and seemingly knew all about APO. Something she admired in her mother on a job related basis was her thoroughness. She always seemed to know what she was doing.

She nodded. "I can get them this afternoon but I can't leave Nadia alone. Being Co-Director keeps me away from the field but it allows me to be here for her. It's the only reason I accepted the job."

"You miss field work, don't you?"

"Yeah. I do. I've always wanted to get out of this life, but now that I got a taste of inaction, I'm not so sure anymore. The best action I had since I moved into this nice, big office was Chase barging in without knocking."

"It's normal. You're addicted to the thrill of danger, to the rush of adrenaline you get while in dangerous situations. There are other ways to get those feelings than being in the field, you know."

"Like what? Free fall? I don't think so. I jumped from a 747 on fire with a parachute barely strapped on. I've done so many insane things that nothing accessible to an average American would ever come close to making me miss a beat."

"Many agents experience that. You should ask around you, I'm sure the CIA has a support group of some sort."

Sydney snorted. "I've been to a few group meetings about my missing two years. I hated it. I'm not big on the 'sharing your feelings' thing. I've been hurt too many times before because of that."

Irina nodded solemnly, skillfully hiding her hurt over her daughter's innocent revelation, which she took for herself.

"Sydney, if we're going to do this, try and find a cure for Nadia, I need to know I can count on you."

"If you're afraid I'll turn you in as soon as you have your back on me, don't worry, I won't."

"Thank you but I was concerned about what we might have to do. You said it yourself, the CIA looked everywhere for information and came up with nothing. We need to look deeper, places American agents don't have access to. I need to be certain you are willing to do anything it takes to get Nadia back to her normal self. "

"Of course I am!"

"You don't understand. I need to know you won't question my methods. That you'll be with me 100 and that, you'll have my back to matter what. We will probably have to break a few dozen laws and do other things that probably disagree with what the CIA book says."

"I don't play by the book, Mom. Never have. It wouldn't be the first time I break the law, don't worry about me. I have no scruples doing whatever it takes when it comes to my family or my friends. You can count on me."

Irina nodded. Sydney had gotten the message and seemed to be on the same page as her mother. "Good. I just wanted to make that clear."

"It's crystal. And I would love to work with you again."

Irina threw her a surprised look. "Really?"

"You are a great partner to have in the field."

Irina nodded in acknowledgement, smiling as she realised her daughter had really enjoyed their time together in Sovogda. "I'll watch over Nadia while you go to your 'office'. Can you brief me on what I'll find in those files?"

"Basically nothing. Her exams showed no apparent brain damage and yet she's not herself. She's neither the Nadia I met nor the Nadia who tried to strangle me on that roof in Sovogda. It's like she's stuck in between, hovering closer to one side or another depending on the day. Her mood can change in seconds. Most of the time she walks around the apartment like a zombie. She spends a lot of time watching TV, though I can't say if she understands what she's watching."

"Did she hit you?" Asked Irina, worried, her eyes raking over Sydney's body for signs of injuries.

"Yeah," Sydney sighed. "A few days ago actually. She got…mad. She was standing right in front of me and snapped in a fraction of a second. I was down at the first punch, right in the solar plexus."

"First punch? There were others?"

Sydney self-consciously pulled her arms closer around her, growing more and more uncomfortable with the subject. "I'm fine now, but I was in no state to go after her when she left the apartment. Thankfully, Eric saw her pass his window and caught her before she could get to the road. She was not happy. You don't want to know how it ended up," she concluded somberly.

"Why did she do that?"

"I don't know. She just snaps from time to time. She's not driven or vicious anymore, like she was in Sovogda. She could have killed me back then, if it weren't for Sloane." The idea that she owed her life to Sloane made her sick but she couldn't pretend otherwise.

"It's because you weren't defending yourself, Sydney," interrupted Irina.

"You're missing the point Mom. What I meant to say it that now she's more like an animated vegetable than a killing machine. Moreover, when she snaps, she's just a mix of pure blunt force; she's easy to take down once you get past her fists. Everything about her is sort of…random. I can't explain. I learn as time goes by."

"The fluid is hindering her recovery, is it not?"

"Yes. Not exactly. Remember in Sovogda, Brodien said the Muller Device acted as a trigger for the contaminated water to take effect and physiologically alter people?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"It was only a theory in the spur of the moment, but it was confirmed when we got back to LA. However, once the device was deactivated, the fluid stopped being effective. It washed away from Nadia's body by natural means within a few weeks, like any drug would. However, the damage was done. Some of Nadia's brain functions are still shut off because a part of the fluid didn't leave her body. The doctors dubbed it 'waste particles', for lack of a better word."

Irina nodded, deep in thoughts. "I heard the Russian Special Forces had the whole city burned to the ground, so that Nadia the only human subject alive. Even if we find a cure, we'll have no one to test it on but her."

"Yes. However, that's another issue. I think we should go on with your idea and look where I couldn't look with the CIA breathing down my neck."

"Yes, but we're not looking for a cure per say anymore. We're looking for a pharmaceutical vaccine that would attack the fluid's remaining molecules like it does cancer cells."

"Yeah. We tried several of existing vaccines but it didn't work. We discovered that the molecules left in Nadia's body are not on the table of elements. They're unknown to man. We should have expected it though, knowing she was infected by an orchid hundred years old. 

"Dialysis was a failure as well, because there's always a tiny bit of particles that remains. Believe me, Mom, she was examined by the best, and they unsuccessfully tried everything, from experimental drugs to electroshock. We even went back to everything Rambaldi wrote in case something spoke of a cure, a vaccine, or a remedy. No matter how you put it, there was nothing."

"Rambaldi meant for this to happen. He engendered this so people would kill each other until the world was 'cleansed'. There is no Rambaldi cure because no infected human was meant to stay alive. Rambaldi will be of no help to Nadia. We have to focus on the medical aspect of Nadia's illness; there must be something to cure her. I need to get in touch with some contacts of mine. If we could find the people that helped Yelena build the device, maybe they would know something that could help Nadia. I don't believe she would have passed the opportunity to study the effects of the solution on human subjects."

"And how do you intend on finding something that none of the Americans' three letters agencies could? I trust you, I know you have an idea already. I'm just asking you to share, and not hold off until you have all the facts like you usually do."

"I have my ways. I'll set up a protocol for us to contact each other safely, but first you must promise me you won't involve your father in any of this."

Sydney was about to reply, but thought better of it. It was a fair thing to ask. "You don't trust him."

"No. Not since Yelena showed me a tape of him killing the woman who he thought was the mother of his child without an ounce of remorse in his eyes. I still can't believe he even considered the possibility that I had anything to do with the hit put out on you." Irina went quiet, still raging over Jack's actions.

Sydney lowered her head, thinking of her own reaction but hesitating to speak up. Finally, she forgot about reason, the desire to comfort her mother too strong. "I couldn't believe it when I found out. I couldn't believe you would hire someone to kill me. But then…there were so much evidence against you. I'm not saying I approve what Dad did. I was furious with him…"

"He told you?" interrupted Irina, surprised at Jack's apparent frankness.

"No. I was not supposed to know. At least that's what he told me when he walked in on me reading CIA files granting him permission to sanction you. He let me hate him for months. I had no idea why he had done it until I had a… chance encounter with the man who claimed to have been hired to kill me. He was not happy with me because his client had been killed the day before the job was supposed to go down.

I had no idea what he was talking about. The last thing he did before dying was to name you as his deceased client. I believed him. It all made sense. It didn't change things between Dad and me, though. He didn't want me to tell Nadia and I was still convinced he could have found another way to…deal with the situation."

Irina nodded. "I understand why you believed it. I don't blame you Sydney. But I want you to know that…in spite of what you think of me, of what I do for a living, I would never, never hurt you on purpose, let alone have you killed by some random hit man."

"Are you saying that you would have the decency to do it yourself?" Asked Sydney, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sydney!"

"I believe you Mom, and I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Don't be."

"I need to get Nadia cleaned up and dressed before I leave. Make yourself at home. But please, don't eat the ice cream, Eric would kill me."

Irina smiled. "I believe there is a second episode of Tom and Jerry coming up."

"I didn't peg you for a cartoon fan," teased Sydney, trying to get Nadia to follow her to the bathroom.

"I always watched TV with you on Saturday's when you were little. Don't you remember?"

Sydney frowned, thinking. "Yeah, actually, I do. I remember sitting on your lap on that horrible green sofa, and you would try to fold the laundry but I wouldn't let you take your arms off me…," she murmured in remembrance.

Irina smiled. "You always wanted me all to yourself."

Sydney nodded distractedly, and eventually just turned off the TV to get Nadia's attention. "Come on now, it's time to take your bath, it's warm and waiting for you." She pulled Nadia to her feet but the young woman was not being cooperative. "Please Nadia, it won't take long, you can go back to your TV when we're done, come on!"

Finally, Nadia gave in and let Sydney lead her to the bathroom, though she was dragging her feet.

"Do you want me to help, Sydney?"

She hesitated, knowing Nadia would give her a hard time for interrupting her episode of Tom and Jerry. "Yeah, that would be great, thanks."

As expected, Nadia was doing her best to annoy Sydney, who was amazed at her mother's patience with the young woman. Between them both, they still managed to strip her of her PJs.

"What is that?"

Sydney peered up from behind Nadia to see an ugly hand shaped bruise on her sister's arm. She swallowed hard, feeling guilty as hell. "I didn't mean to. It's just that…when Eric brought her back, after she practically beat me to unconsciousness, she was so out of control. We didn't want to hurt her, so we gave her one of those drugs I told you about. She was struggling so much, she would have broken the needle if I hadn't held her still. I guess I held her too tight, I didn't notice at the time. I really regret it Mom, I didn't mean to hurt her."

"Of course not," said Irina, softening. "I understand. It must be hard to control her without leaving marks when she's in full rage."

"Yeah. She gets those kinds of bruises sometimes when I have to hold her back or down. I try not to hurt her. I sit on her and she calms down within minutes because she hates not being able to move at all. It's not easy because she's as strong as me, if not more."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart; I know you're doing the best you can. You don't have to justify yourself. I can't imagine what they would do to her in the hospital."

"I don't have to. I saw it first hand. They'd just tie her to her bed or sedate her, when they were tired of hearing her scream her frustration. That's why I checked her out, even though I knew it would be difficult and painful to have to do some things, I couldn't bear seeing her there anymore like a trapped animal. I think that's what she would have wanted."

Nadia had quietly stepped into the bathtub under the watchful eye of Sydney while the two woman were talking. Irina had noticed many faded scars on her youngest daughter's body but didn't comment on them. Sydney probably knew where they came from. She could only assume they were childhood marks, results of violent beatings, and shuddered at the thought. She quietly watched as Sydney slowly washed her twenty-four year old sister in the most intimate way as if she were a small child. In that moment, she pitied Sydney more than she did Nadia.

Once done, Irina dried Nadia while Sydney went to get her some clothes. They dressed her and she was happy to return to watching TV.

Hours later Sydney was finally back from APO. She entered her apartment to find Nadia and Irina both sprawled on the floor, working on assembling a puzzle. She smiled at the sight, remembering herself in this position with her mother when she was little.

"Hey, sorry it took me so long. They had tons of paperwork for me to sign," apologized Sydney, dumping her stuff on the sofa.

"Its okay, Nadia, and I had a great time," smiled Irina, getting up from the floor.

"I can see that," replied Sydney, admiring the easiness with which her mother was coping with Nadia's condition. She herself had taken quite some time adjusting to her sister's 'childishness'. She had been uncomfortable for days when she discovered she would have to play with Nadia and help her wash like her own mother did with her when she was little.

Doing puzzles and colouring were two of the things she seemed truly to enjoy. Watching cartoons came first.

"Are those her medical files?" Asked Irina, motioning to the folders Sydney still held.

"The red one is. It's pretty thick. I checked it; it includes all the results of her exams, tox screen, blood work, CAT scan…everything they did from our return to three days ago." At Irina's questioning look, she explained, "I take her back every week. They insist on doing check ups regularly to see her progress."

"What about the blue folder?"

"I thought it could be useful. It's everything the CIA, APO, the NSC, the NIH and basically every American agency has on the contaminated water from Sovogda. It goes from researches, Intel from foreign agencies, studies, analyses on rats…everything I could get my hands on."

"That will be of great help I'm sure. Thank you."

"Mom, if anyone gets wind that I got those to you I'm as good as dead."

"Don't worry, darling, I'll be careful not to mention my source," smiled Irina.

"I'm serious, Mom. I could end up in jail for treason, conspiracy with a known terrorist, and God knows what else."

"I'm aware of that, Sydney. I know the risks. I worked with your father, remember? Believe me, me coming to you was my last resort. I gave you time and your agencies couldn't find anything. Now it's my turn to step in. I want to help, but not at the risk of putting you in danger, don't worry. I'll be careful, and you should be too."

"Yeah. Sorry." She sighed. "I'm being careful, don't worry. Nobody knows I took those files. Being Co-Director has its advantages."

"I'm hungry."

Sydney and Irina both looked at Nadia, surprised at hearing her speak. Sydney recovered first, used to her sister popping out words without warning. She looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. "God I didn't realise it was so late! I'm sorry sweetie. We'll order in. What do you think Mom? Chinese, Thai, Indian?"

"Actually…I should have left hours ago. I only stayed so Nadia would not be alone. I'm sorry," said Irina, sorrowfully.

"Oh…okay, fine, it's…fine." Not a word was spoken for a few seconds. Nadia was still staring at Sydney, waiting for something to happen. Finally, she broke the silence. "Okay, well, goodbye then," she concluded, throwing her hand up in dismissal.

Irina stepped forward and kissed her older daughter's cheek, smiling. "I'm very proud of you Sydney. Goodbye." She gave her a hug.

To Nadia, whom she kissed on the forehead, she said, "finish that puzzle of yours and you can show it to me when it's done. Goodbye, my angel."

Sydney felt an odd feeling come over her as she watched her mother hug Nadia tightly. Could it be jealousy? She dismissed it.

"I'll be in touch," Irina called out before walking toward the back of the apartment toward Sydney's room.

She had laid out her exit plan in the afternoon. Sydney's window offered a direct access to the beach. She borrowed a cap and a jogging vest from Sydney and mixed with the other evening joggers, who came to the beach to unwind after a hard day of work at the office.

Sydney was on her own with Nadia, again. She sighed, feeling guilty for going down that line of thought. Nadia was the one who should be pitied, not her. She had it easy, Nadia didn't. Or did she? After all, she spent her days watching TV and playing games, not worrying about an old nutcase or the next mini apocalypse. She didn't have a care in the world. However, she had no control whatsoever on anything she did. Like a child.

She wondered what would happen if Nadia ever recovered?

TBC


	4. Chapter 3: The Executive Suite

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

**Author's notes:** I have to thank Lenafan who's helping out a lot with everything related to the show and to US. She knows all the chronology and the history of the Mueller Device throughout all four seasons. I don't know what I'd do without her!

**Chapter 3: The Executive Suite****  
**  
Ten days later, Sydney opened her door to a UPS deliveryman. She signed for her parcel and, like a good spy that she was, scanned it for explosives before opening it.

Under the brown paper was a book, but not just any book. It was 'Alice in Wonderland', a first edition. Her heart stopped. It was from her mother. It had to be. Maybe she had made some progress and wanted to get Sydney up to date. Now she just needed to find out where and how Irina hid the information in the book. It couldn't be in the wrapping, it was UPS standard issue.

She didn't want to damage the book. After all, it was a genuine first edition of her favourite book and a perfect copy of the one she lost in the fire at her house. Eric's third edition was a sweet gift by which she had been touched and was still grateful for, but it was not the real deal. Her mother's 'gift' would look perfect in her bookcase, next to Eric's copy. She flipped through the pages and saw the small slip of paper stuck between chapter 7 and chapter 8.

Squinting, she read a date, a time, and a name. 'The Executive Suite'. The date was today's, at 23h00. A club, judging by the name. How very surprising. She smiled wryly. It would be the first time she went to a club in a non-work related business since she came back. She wasn't going there for APO, or for the CIA, but for herself. She had partied since her return, but it consisted of getting drunk between friends, generally with only Eric, at her own apartment. It was fun but not as much as clubbing with Francie and Will had been. Ah, the good old days…

She picked up the phone and dialed Weiss's number. No way was she leaving Nadia alone, even for a couple hours.

"Sure, I'm always happy to spend time with Nadia," he cheerfully agreed to her request.

"She'll probably be asleep."

"That's fine by me. Now, I must say I'm pretty curious as to why my very hot female friend needs a 'babysitter' at such a late hour?"

Sydney smiled. He had the gift to make her smile whenever he opened his mouth. It was one of the things that made him so special. "Well, if you must know, I'm going out and having some fun on my own."

"And you're not taking me with you? I'm hurt!" He mockingly replied.

"That's the idea of 'on my own', to go without you, sorry pal."

"Now I'm jealous. Will you at least pass my number around if you happen to meet any hot girls in need of a real male?"

"Of course. Thank you Eric, you're so sweet."

"Don't sweat it. I'll be over by 22h00, is that okay?"

"Perfect." Count on Irina to pick a club near enough to her apartment so Sydney wouldn't have to drive all night to get there. Sometimes it had its advantages to have a sneaky mother.

She should have checked the club's name on the Internet before leaving. A young guy in a red jacket opened her door for her and took her place in the driver seat. She had no problem getting in, considering the amount of leather she was wearing. Leather was the key to any club in the world, Sydney had learned that the hard way during her time at SD-6. It was either mini skirt bordering on non-existent and low cut top or tight, simple leather. She preferred the latter; it offered more coverage, which made her feel more comfortable, more like herself, though Sydney Bristow rarely wore leather, if not ever, even when going out.

Tonight she was wearing tight leather pants, black, of course, boots, also black, and a purple blouse with a black leather jacket, because it was chilly outside.

She had caught up on the nature of the club the minute she had pulled up in front of 'The Executive Suite' and had spotted the line. Women. Dozens of women and not a man in sight except for the valet boys.

She couldn't believe it. Her mother had arranged for them to meet at a lesbian club, of all places. She wondered why Irina had made that choice. For a second, she considered it a matter of taste, but quickly dismissed the idea. That was just so wrong even to think about her mother in this way...no, it must be some sort of strategy that Sydney didn't get yet. She would make sure to demand an explanation from Irina.

The last thing she wanted was to mix with the dancers and be hit on so she made her way to the bar but did catch a few appreciative glances on her way there.

She was down to her second vodka when someone slid on the stool beside her. She didn't need to look to know who it was.

"Aren't you driving?" Asked Irina, motioning for the bartender to give her what Sydney was having and to get her daughter a refill as well.

"I am, but I could still get myself home with twice that amount plus a couple of beers. And if the cops try to stop me for a Breathalyzer, I am confident I will easily lose them."

"I have no doubt about that."

"Or you could drive me home yourself. That would be fun. Seriously, of all places, you wanted to meet me here? What's wrong with you?"

"Makes it easier to spot tails."

"The CIA does employ women in case you haven't noticed."

"They do but they are still a minority. Tell me, how many women, field rated, of course, have you seen in your office? None. They are all doing paperwork or analysis. And all your 'bodyguards' are male anyway."

Sydney rolled her eyes, forced to recognise her mother had a point. Nonetheless, she couldn't let herself be defeated so easily. "I cannot divulge any information pertaining to my co-workers."

Irina took it as it was, a joke, and smiled pleasantly. "Shall we go elsewhere to talk?"

"We shall," agreed Sydney, downing her third shot of Vodka. She realised she had just drank with her mother, as two friends would do. She felt incredibly good about it and though it didn't seem like a big deal, it was to her. She let the older woman pay for their drinks and stood up when Irina offered her hand with a playful smile on her face. She smiled back with a devilish grin of her own and let herself be led through the maze of people.

Irina wanted to play and Sydney was game.

She was surprised to spot several women of Irina's age and was downright outraged when Irina received smiles creepily similar to those she herself earned as she made her way through the crowd. Were women as dense as men were or was Irina being overly encouraging while she had her back to Sydney?

Irina led her to the back of the club in an area reserved for more 'official' couples, those anxious to take their relationship to a further level. The sound of the music was muted back here and you could talk without yelling. Irina had seemingly booked them the VIP suite in advance.

The place was actually quite good looking and comfortably furnished with a king sized bed, sofa, mini bar and even a Jacuzzi. It was a nice, but probably an expensive alternative for the women who couldn't wait to reach a hotel or even their car, and who didn't want to have sex on the dance floor or in a booth.

"Like it?"

"Frankly Mom, you're starting to creep me out, but I'll admit its way much better than the sleazy back room of your nightclub in Taipei."

Irina had a very unpleasant flashback to the aforementioned back room in which she had sequestered her daughter before shooting her. She mentally shook her head and replied, on a teasing tone. "Don't worry, I only have the purest of intentions." Then, on the 'teacher tone' she hadn't used in decades, she added, finally answering one of Sydney's question, "the point is that no one would look for us here."

"True. Even I didn't expect to find myself in such a setting. I mean, of all the places to meet. You could have chosen an abandoned warehouse, a parking garage, the docks…but no, you picked a lesbian club. Sorry, not 'a' club but 'your' club with accommodations for couples to spend the night."

Irina laughed, startling Sydney, in a good way. The only time she had heard her mother's deep, throaty laugh, was in the train when she had shared a joke with Jack. She smiled, transfixed.

"Would you have preferred a strip tease club? An S&M club maybe?"

"No! God knows I spend enough of my time in those as it is!"

Irina turned serious, feeling it was time to ask the question she had dreaded to ask ever since she had found out Sydney was not the sweet university student she appeared to be. "Sydney, what do you do when you are on mission in that kind of place?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Sydney, confused at the sudden shift in conversation.

"What I'm trying to ask is…how far did you ever go, while impersonating an alias?"

Sydney stared, mouth half open. She was good at hiding her emotions, but the implications of the question totally threw her off. More so because it was coming from her mother, of all people. "Are you asking me if I had sex with a man with the purpose of achieving my mission?"

"Yes," Irina replied curtly, trying to contain her impatience. Sydney knew exactly what she was asking, why didn't she just say 'no' directly?

After a bewildered moment, Sydney sighed dramatically. "I did sleep with a man during a mission, once," said Sydney, earning a horrified glance from Irina.

"Sydney! How could you?"

"Mom, I'm just messing with you, let me finish." She went on with her story, but with such a sad tone that it made Irina want to hold her. "Our aliases were those of a Russian couple, trying to impersonate the perfect American couple. We went to a place called 'Liberty Village', it was a replica of an American suburb. We had to perform for the leader. We bought a car and played hosts to the neighbouring families, who where also in training like we were. We were under constant observation, and were supposed to act like a couple at all times." She paused, smirking. "The leader made a reflection on us. He said we were too cold to pass for a couple, and that we had intimacy issues…"

"Sydney…" Irina wondered where Sydney was going with her story.

"It was Vaughn, Mom. Right after he killed Lauren, we decided to get back together and take things slow. And then, next thing we knew, we were trapped in that compound, where we would have been killed for not being a good couple." She smiled. "Ironic, isn't it? We jumped in the shower and it just happened, out of the sight of the cameras, obviously."

Irina smiled despite herself. She briefly wondered if children usually shared their sexual experiences with their parents.

Sydney went on. "Wait, I'm not nearly done. Here's the kicker. They asked how he had popped the question, how he had asked me to marry him." She sighed, near tears. "And he answered."

"I don't understand…"

"If I hadn't gone missing, we would have gone to Santa Barbara. He would have asked me to marry him on the beach. He had it all planned out, he wanted to take me to the zoo, and had reserved the Biltmore's Presidential Suite…all that never happened because the Covenant took me, and now it will never happen because he lied to me all along and I hate him!"

"Sweetheart…"

"I never told anyone about this…I just needed to say it…and your question made me think about that night in the shower…what he said the next day…and now I can't stop thinking about him…about what could have been but never will be."

Irina hugged her, neither saying a word for a few minutes. Then, Sydney seemed to regain her composure and wiped her tears. "To really answer your question, no, I never slept with a man for the sake of my job. The farthest I went was reciprocated kissing and some fondling. One guy licked my face one. I compensated by breaking his noise and depriving him of the ability to have children. I pretty much kicked every guy's ass I had to kiss or pretend to remotely be interested in."

"I'm proud of you sweetheart." Irina nodded and smiled broadly, clearly relieved.

"Now what about this place? Because I wonder, are you trying to tell me something? Your explanation only half convinced me," she added playfully.

Irina understood the aforementioned issue was closed and respected her daughter's choice. She played along, happy to return to a safe topic. "Are you worried I might have switched sides?" Asked Irina, and Sydney couldn't tell if she was messing with her or if she was serious.

"No! Well…I must admit I considered it for a quarter of second, maybe more, but…seriously, you? No. It just doesn't fit."

"Why not? I know a few women in our business that play for the home team." 

Sydney froze, mouth mildly open. "Did I just hear you say 'home team'?"

"Yes, you did. Why? What's the matter?" Irina was inwardly reveling in her daughter's startled expression. From her point of view, it was healthy, in a mother/daughter relationship, to mess with your child's head.

"You're my mother! You can't say things like that!" Now she was horrified.

Irina smiled. It was a cruel game she was playing, and she herself could not bear to imagine her daughter having sexual intercourse, but it was so much fun to torment Sydney, she just had to give it one last shot. "Anyway, you don't have to worry, I only go for sticks."

"Jesus Christ!"

"I chose this particular club because I happen to own it."

"What? You're serious. This place is barely thirty minutes away from where I live!"

"I know. And yes, I do own this club, though I merely pay the bills and get the money once a month. Someone else takes care of it."

"Then why bring us to this room; can't we borrow the manager's office?"

"I could, but in our business, you can't trust places as an office or a conference room. No matter how safe you make them, someone always finds a way to breach even the best security."

"You have a point," nodded Sydney, used to breaking into places supposedly spy and thief-proof.

"Who would think to place a listening device in such a place?" She asked, motioning to their surroundings.

"A pervert," replied Sydney matter-of-factly.

"But not the CIA."

"I know a few guys at the office that fit both profiles. Should we worry?"

Irina chuckled. Her daughter was much more relaxed after consuming alcohol. She would have to remember that for future meetings. "I'm sorry to have dragged you here, I just didn't feel it wise to invite myself over to your apartment. Did you find someone to watch over Nadia?"

"Yeah, Eric is with her now. She was asleep when I left. She sleeps a lot."

Irina nodded. "What I have to tell you is too sensitive to take any chances of someone listening," she explained, getting down to business.

Sydney nodded and Irina admired her ability to go from joking around to being fully serious.

TBC


	5. Chapter 4: Guilt

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

Chapter 4: Guilt 

"What did you find?"

"Doctor Thomas Frankel. He was Cadmus' Director of Research until Elena offered him more money. He worked on several projects of hers, and most recently on the chemical properties of the orchid Sloane used to contaminate the water supply."

"You mean you found the guy who is basically responsible for all this?"

"Sloane, Yelena, and I are responsible for what has happened to the Sovogdans and to Nadia."

"You were an unwilling participant," interjected Sydney. "Sloane is the one who poisoned the water supply."

"I was not always an unwilling participant Sydney, at least not at first. Right after you left Taipei and before I turned myself in, I met with Yelena and told her about Frankel. She had something I wanted, and she needed the name of a trustworthy scientist. I had no idea she would use him years later to plan an apocalypse or that she would force me to help build a device of her own. I gave her everything she needed to render Sloane's contaminated water lethal to people. Without the Mueller Device I helped her build, without the scientist I provided her with, none of this would have happened."

"You didn't know what she was up to, Mom! And it's not a crime to give up information under torture," argued Sydney.

"Have you ever? Given up information under torture?"

"No," admitted Sydney, wincing as she remembered all the blood and teeth she had lost to countless interrogators. "But Mom she kept you over a year! You were bound to crack at some point. No one, not even yourself, can fault you for that! And think about it, she would have probably ended up coming after me, Nadia, or even Dad, and threatened to hurt us if you hadn't helped her."

"Thousands of people are dead Sydney. Your sister is lost."

"Because of one man and one woman's madness! Stop it already! We're here to repair the damage done to my sister, your daughter. Where can we find that Doctor Frankel, how come I've never heard of him?"

"Because you didn't look in the right place. He was a world-renowned scientist until he dropped out of sight, supposedly to retire, five years ago. I was in CIA custody at the time but Yelena's plans were already in motion."

"Yeah, I heard her through your comms while I was fighting with Nadia. God knows what she had him do before she got her hands on the orchid solution." Sydney sighed and then recalled something her mother had said earlier. "How did you know about Frankel when you gave his name to Yelena? Had you worked with him personally?" She asked, trying to keep her growing suspicion out of her voice.

Irina sighed. A telltale sign of her guilt from Sydney's point of view. "The CIA was interested only in people that fit their profile…mad scientists, shady chemical engineers and the likes. Yes, I only did think to check out Frankel last week because I had worked with him a couple of years ago…"

"Of course you did," sighed Sydney, her suspicions confirmed as she remembered the virus that had almost killed Vaughn after he had been exposed to the solution in the Muller device in Taipei. That time seemed so far away now. Had it been five years already? True, she was missing two out of the five, but still, it seemed like yesterday. She shuddered at the thought.

In Sovogda, she had been the last one in line on purpose, Vaughn in her line of sight, the wave right on her heels. She would have given anything to have Sloane behind her instead of in front of her though. What joy it would have been to see his body slam into the door like Vaughn's had in Taipei. Too bad there was no window on this door and what a shame nothing happened to Sloane. He had saved her life all right, but he still owed her countless lost friends. "Please go on," she whispered, knowing it was a bad time to wallow in self-pity and hatred. Nadia was what mattered now. It's the only thing the man had done right. Give her a sister. Correction. A half sister.

"He was still employed by Cadmus at the time. It took some convincing, but in the end, he was fascinated by what I had him work on. The Mueller Device you so kindly destroyed was in part his creation."

Sydney smirked. Her mother was still touchy about that. "What kind of convincing?" She asked, remembering Elsa Kaplan and her son.

"Blackmail. Classic but very efficient."

"Of course," sighed Sydney.

"Anyway, I'm afraid our collaboration led him to take a liking in extra curricular research. His reputation put him above all suspicion. His high profile job was the perfect cover for his 'private research'. I guess working on biological weapons and molecules unknown to Man was more exciting than HIV medications or a cure for cancer. Your destroying my Mueller Device interrupted his work, leaving him…unsatisfied. That's why Yelena recruited him so easily. He jumped on the opportunity to study another Mueller Device and its interaction with the contaminated water."

"Damn. That guy has all the answers we need!"

"Yes. And there's more. I know for a fact that he went further in his study than what was asked of him."

"How so?"

"Yelena only hired him to study the immediate effects of the water on people. She only cared about how long it took after exposure for the subject to be 'active'. He got curious and started to isolate contaminated patients to study the long-term effects on them. Just like I had him do with the contents of my Mueller Device."

"Yes, I saw that. I vividly remember a dying man asking me 'why'…It was one of the first time I was told I looked like you," replied Sydney, deep in thoughts.

Irina sighed, but didn't offer apologies. "Patients from a mental hospital ran by his brother were used as his guinea pigs."

"He had no ethics whatsoever. How shocking," said Sydney.

"Well it is a requirement of sorts on my side of the law."

Sydney smiled wryly, and then frowned. "Wait, you told me you helped Elena built her Mueller device only a few weeks ago. The contaminated water is worthless without an active device. How could Frankel study the effects of the contaminated water on people?"

"He had a prototype of the Mueller device. It was effective enough for Frankel to use in his studies."

Sydney gasped, horrified. "I gave that prototype to Sloane myself…to get back in SD-6! Oh God, what have I done!"

Irina listened, shocked. Had Sloane and Yelena known each other before Sovogda? "Sydney, Yelena could have acquired it in a number of ways. She might have stolen it from SD-6, or from the CIA, or Sloane could have sold it to someone else. You now how easy things get from hand to hand in this business. It's not your fault!"

Sydney shook her head dismissively and moved on. "What did Frankel find?"

"I don't know. His eagerness was predictable behaviour from a scientist, but Elena only found out several months into his employment. She had him executed and his work destroyed."

"She had him killed because he worked overtime on his own?" Interrupted Sydney, disappointed at seeing a promising source of information vanish.

"More like moonlighting. Her men spotted Frankel exchanging documents with an ex-colleague of his, from Cadmus lab. However, I'm not even sure Yelena looked into his files before destroying them. She's always been quick tempered, as I told you. Maybe he found out the effects wore off on their own like they did with Nadia. Maybe he tried to find a way to annihilate the 'waste particles' left behind in infected people's body. My point is…he had more than enough time to gather information we need. Why not a cure?

"I agree. But I'm curious, why would such a high profile manufacturer as Cadmus be interested in the effects of such a deadly solution?"

"I don't know. I'm not even sure they knew what Frankel was dealing with. After all, he wasn't in their employ anymore. I doubt they knew they had a 'mole' inside still in contact with him. Whatever information Frankel gave his colleague is probably stashed away in one of Cadmus's facilities. I'm going to need your help to get in."

"That makes sense. Do you know where to look? Cadmus is a big institution; they have testing laboratories, factories, offices…buildings all over the world."

"I know it's a long shot, but I have no other lead."

"Okay. Do you know the name of the guy who met with Frankel?"

"Doctor Amelia Varnina. She's Russian. She was his assistant. That's how I convinced him to work for me. She shared his bed while he was still happily married."

"Never mix business with pleasure," smirked Sydney.

"Look who's talking," replied Irina softly. It was the opening she had been waiting for. An opportunity to direct the conversation toward the 'Agent Vaughn issue'.

Sydney looked at her, frozen. "I don't regret hooking up with Vaughn while we were still handler and Agent. It was not very professional of either of us, but…the time we had together was wonderful."

"And what happened to make the 'wonderful' stop?" Asked Irina softly.

Sydney sighed, suspecting her mother already knew the answer. "You tell me. You seem to know an awful lot about my life lately." Her tone was not light anymore and turned accusatory. "What role did you play in all this?"

Irina sighed. She hoped Sydney would see past what she would hear and still agree to work with her for Nadia's sake. Neither Irina nor Sydney could do this on their own, they both needed someone they could trust to watch their back and help.

"I merely spoke with him, in the subway station. I saw you two on the plane and thought it was time for him to come clean. I strongly encouraged him to talk to you before you married. I thought you would want to know the truth about him."

"So the only reason he told me was because you threatened him to do so in his place?"

"No. I did no such thing. I merely suggested he tell you the truth if he didn't want to end up like Jack and I did. Tell me, what happened?"

Sydney chuckled despite herself. "We were on our way to Santa Barbara, talking about screwing the whole ceremony thing and just get barefoot on the beach. He joked about Dad not being the kind of guy to like sand between his toes…everything was perfect. Then he started to say things, things that didn't make sense to me. That he was a bad guy, that his name wasn't Michael Vaughn..."

She started to sob. Irina took her hand in hers. "Keep going, you will feel better once you get it off your chest, sweetheart."

Sydney nodded and resumed her story, her sobs under control. "Then, a car rammed us. We were so into our conversation that neither of us saw it coming. It was a crazy accident. I still can't believe it, a stupid, car accident due to a drunk driver and our inattention." She shook her head, still in disbelief over it. "The medics took us to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Cuts and bruises, a sprain, nothing major, though we both had a concussion."

Irina merely nodded, not mentioning that she had seen both her daughter's and her fiancé's medical records and knew about every single scratch they had sustained. She had also read the Paramedics and the Police reports telling about the deceased driver and his over the limit alcohol rate. She saw the pictures and knew it could have ended up badly for the young couple.

"Vaughn…Michael…'Whatever', that's what I call him now. He wanted to see me in the hospital but I didn't want to see him. Eventually, he just knocked out a guard, barged into my room, and started talking. He wouldn't stop. I didn't want to listen. I was so shocked! I couldn't believe it. I thought he was the man of my life, 'the one' you know? The only time I felt that connection before was with Danny." She paused for a second remembering her lost first true love, wondering what would have happened, had she not spoke of SD-6 to him. "Vau…Whatever, turned out to be nothing but a lying bastard, just like everybody else around me."

"Sydney, lies are sometimes meant to protect you," explained Irina, knowing she was falling into the category of 'lying bastards'. "What did he tell you exactly?"

"That his name was 'Vassili Mikailovich'."

Irina sighed, cursing her daughter's stubbornness at not listening to her fiancé's explanation, though at the same time, she couldn't blame her. Again, she took her daughter's hands in her own. "When we were in your car, your friend Eric said that Michael was calling, and you said it meant he must be free. What happened?"

"It was a CIA controlled hospital. We should have known there were cameras. We should have been more careful…but I was so upset, and he wanted to explain himself so bad. We never cared about the consequences. We got caught. I begged him to go away, to leave me alone, and he did, eventually, with the help of two guards who later arrested him for assaulting a guard and because of what he told me. I saw them drag him down the hallway, and I did nothing. I just stood there and watched, just like I did with Nadia."

"Sydney, stop it! Stop blaming yourself for everything that's gone wrong around you! You would have been arrested also had you interfered!"

"I hate him, Mom. I hate him so much!"

"Don't say that sweetheart! You don't know anything past the fact he was not born 'Michael Vaughn'!"

Sydney looked up, suspicious. She brusquely withdrew her hand from Irina's. "Yeah…what more is there to know? What do 'you' know? What are you hiding Mom? Tell me!"

TBC


	6. Chapter 5: Ask him

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

**Author's notes:** I'm posting this on FF, SD-1, CIA HQ and AllAlias, but you all have more or less the same questions. So for those who asked, no, Vaughn is not dead. He's merely under investigation because he confessed he lied about his name and origins, among other things. You won't see much of Jack either, if not any, as he is shifting paperwork as a punishment for the 'escape' of Irina Derevko in Sovogda. I don't like him anyway, so there's very little hope for any J/I. Maybe in the end. I always have to please my readers, I can't help it, so hang on!

Chapter 5: Ask him 

"You have to ask him, Sydney," whispered Irina, teary eyed at not being able to take her daughter's pain away. She could, but it wasn't the right thing to do, and she didn't have all the facts. Maybe there was more than what she had read. No, she couldn't, period. She tried to chase the idea out of her head. It was unbearable to see first hand Sydney's suffering while knowing she might be able to alleviate it.

"I don't want to know," gruffly replied Sydney.

"Then why ask me?"

She sighed, her mother's logic quite exasperating. "How did you know he was lying to me?"

"I was a KGB officer for years, Sydney. I kept some friends in Russian intelligence."

"You had him checked out!" Sydney realised. She knew her father probably ran a background check on Vaughn the moment he knew they would be spending time together, but she had never expected her mother to do the same.

"Yes, I did, and I won't apologize for doing so."

"What did you find?"

"I'm not the person you should ask. It's not my place to answer your questions."

"I can't ask him. I won't."

"Why not? You want to know. He's begging you to listen to him. You can't avoid him forever Sydney."

There was a pause. Sydney rubbed her hands over her face and spoke up. "I can't trust him. I'm afraid he'll lie to me again. I thought I could tell when he was hiding something from me. I was wrong. He played me for a fool...as Sloane did…as Alison Doren did…as you did. Please, Mama, tell me the truth about him, please."

Irina sighed and lay back against the sofa's cushion. She had lied to her daughter. She was no better than Sloane or Vaughn. The idea of the three of them having something in common was disturbing but quite real.

Sydney had called her 'Mama'. She wasn't sure if it came from her heart or if it was manipulation to make her talk, but the name had rocked her to the core. It was the Russian word for 'Mom'. It was the first time Sydney had called her that.

She couldn't ignore such a desperate plea for help. Sydney had a right to know, she actually 'needed' to know because she must have made up her own reasons, false of course, and horribly wrong. Irina had to correct it. She owed Michael Vaughn nothing but she did owe it to Sydney and she was the one who had started everything in the first place. She gave up her previous resolve not to say anything before having all the facts. For once, she would not do 'the right thing'; she would answer Sydney's questions, to hell with the consequences.

"Bill Vaughn, the CIA agent I supposedly killed…"

"Supposedly? You confessed!"

"Sydney, let me explain, please. You asked for the truth, let me give it to you." Sydney nodded. "I did not kill Bill Vaughn, CIA agent. I killed Adrian Mikailovich, fellow KGB officer."

Irina paused for a few seconds. Sydney looked truly baffled. Worse was to come, though she didn't know it yet. Irina went on, hands clasped together.

"His mission was to infiltrate the CIA as an agent." Sydney was about to interrupt but Irina's look dissuaded her. She had never told anyone about what had really happened, about the circumstances surrounding Bill's death. "I received orders to fake his death so the KGB could extract him and bring him back to Russia. He had been in America far too long and our superiors feared he would be compromised in a matter of weeks. They didn't want it known that they had had an agent in the CIA ranks. There were others, and if Vaughn's status had been revealed, the CIA would have started a witch hunt for them."

"My God…" After a few seconds of reflections, she went on. "Then what happened to him? Why didn't he contact Vaughn?"

"Because I killed him."

"But I thought you said you 'faked' his death…"

"Those were my orders, which I disobeyed. I killed him for real. I had something to settle with him. A personal matter from back when we went to the academy together. Bill Vaughn was dead to the CIA and Adrian Mikailovich was dead to the KGB."

"What does it have to do with what Vaughn told me?"

"Your Michael was born six months before his parents moved from Russia to France, and then to the US. That's why he told you his name was not Michael Vaughn, indeed. He was born Vassili Mikailovich."

Sydney wanted to know more about her mother's and Bill Vaughn, or rather Adrian Mikailovich's involvement but more than anything, she wanted to believe Vaughn was not a bad man. "It doesn't make any sense, you were KGB, and that doesn't make me a bad guy…why did he say he was a bad guy?

"Because he targeted you. His mother told him his birth name and who his father was when he turned eighteen. From this day, he devoted his life to avenge Adrian Mikailovich's death. It started by joining the CIA, and then meeting you…"

"Oh God…" whispered Sydney as realisation hit.

"I don't know what he hoped to gain by getting close to you. My guess is he thought you would lead him to me, so he could get his revenge."

Sydney was beyond crying. She was in shock. She couldn't see, feel, or hear anything around her anymore. The only thing she was aware of was the words repeated in her head. He had used her all along. It was all a lie. Every moment was part of his plan. "It's insane! I didn't even know who you were until long after joining the CIA. I didn't know you were alive!"

"All I can tell you is that he knew I was alive before you did. He had had access to my KGB file, and got confirmation by the CIA. He just couldn't find me."

"So all this time, it was about you?" She asked, disgusted. "Was getting me into his bed part of his plan or was it an added bonus? Why didn't he just kill me years ago if he wanted to get revenge on you? You know, an eye for an eye?"

"I don't know what he had in mind, Sydney. That's something you'll have to ask him. What I do know is that he saved your life countless times…that he took immense risks to help you…"

"When did you…when did you find out all this?" Asked Sydney, ignoring her mother's attempt at defending Vaughn.

Sydney would hate her forever if she answered her question, but she had promised her the truth, and as awful, cold and hard as it was, Sydney needed to hear it. "After I…eluded the CIA. You two seemed so close; I was worried he might hurt you. I don't trust appearances. I wanted to make sure he was right for you," softly replied Irina.

"But it was…years ago! You could have told me! A phone call, an email…you should have told me. You owed it to me!" She was devastated. All that time lost, spent with a stranger, a liar. All those nights in her bed, with him laying against her, in her. What was the meaning of all this? Why had he stayed with her for so long if all he wanted to do was hurt her? It didn't make any sense. She needed to talk to him. She needed to face him and make him tell her his version. And her mother, how could she have just stood there and watched them get closer. She had seen it, she had seen how much Sydney loved Michael, and she had kept quiet.

"I owed you nothing Sydney. We were enemies remember? And even if I had told you, you wouldn't have listened."

"Well you proved before that you have the ability to make people listen to you even when they don't want to," spat Sydney, remembering lying flat on her back with her mother hovering over her, talking about her plans and how she loved Sydney. She had called Irina a liar and had ended up knocked out cold. She awakened a number of hours later with a significant bump on her head.

"You wouldn't have believed me; you would have thought it a manipulation on my part. And I didn't want to ruin what you had either…"

"But now it's okay to do so, yeah right…"

"He proposed to you right in front of me. I couldn't let you get married to someone you didn't know! Would you have preferred to stay in the dark forever?"

"No! Yes…maybe…I don't know…it would have been easier…" She plopped down on the sofa and started to cry. "Everything was so perfect! He ruined it! He ruined everything!"

Irina came to sit beside her and took her in her arms. Sydney let her head fall against Irina's shoulder and she breathed in her mother's scent. The position was so familiar and yet so foreign. It had been almost thirty years since her mother had held her like this. She was amazed that Irina still had the ability to comfort her just by holding her, after everything that had happened to her.

"Sydney he loves you. Even if the circumstances of your meeting were based on a lie, I know he loves you. I can see it in his eyes, in his actions. Just like Jack and me. We met under false pretence but we fell in love for real. That's what counts."

"I can't forget. I can't help myself. I keep going back over everything we did, every word said to each other, pillow talk, whispers while we were making love, and try to find the manipulation in it."

"I know sweetheart. That's how your father must have felt after…I left. But you and Michael are both here; you need to work out your issues."

She felt her mother kiss her on the forehead and they stayed like this for a few minutes, just holding each other. Sydney's cell broke the spell. She sniffled and moved away from Irina, who reluctantly relinquished her hold on her daughter. Sydney tried to compose herself, embarrassed at her meltdown.

"Hello? Hey Weiss. No, I'm okay, serious, just had too much to drink. What's up? Oh, sorry, I didn't see the time. Hey, you know why don't you crash on the couch. Trust me, it's comfy. I passed out a couple of times on it and got up fresh as a rose. Except for the pounding headache, but that was alcohol induced." She hoped the joke would make him forget about his remark that she sounded funny. "No, its okay, I wouldn't have offered if it bothered me. And tomorrow, I'll cook breakfast to make it up to you. Okay, waffles it is then. 'Night and thanks."

She hung up, and looked at Irina who was staring at her. "Sydney, I'm your mother. It's okay to cry in front of me; it's okay to tell me how you really feel."

"I know…I just…I'm not too comfortable sharing my feelings, you know that. Don't take it personally."

"All right, but if you need to talk, I want you to know I'm there for you. Promise you'll come to me?"

"Are we done here?"

Irina sighed, disappointed and a little bit hurt. "We still have a few things to clear up and then you should go home and get some rest."

"Okay, shoot, I'm listening." Sydney was glad her mother didn't comment on what transpired earlier.

"We were discussing Amelia Varnina. Hopefully, she has copies of all of Frankel's files. She last met him two weeks before Yelena had him killed so she will probably miss his latest data but whatever we can get will have to do."

"So we break into every Cadmus building she's been to until we find the files? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack!"

"Indeed. We have to find her, but then the problem is to get her to give us those files. If we confront her, she'll likely deny everything and might even destroy the files."

"How do you suggest we proceed then?"

"Well…that's where I need you, but you're not going to like my idea. Remember, you told me I could count on you, that you were willing to do anything to help Nadia."

"I did say that, and I meant it. I'm listening," said Sydney, kind of offended by Irina talking down to her.

"She has two children…"

Irina didn't get the chance to say more before Sydney waved her off, her tone leaving no place to negotiation. "No."

"Sydney…"

"It's out of the question! I don't even want to hear it!"

"Listen to me! Nadia is walking around your apartment like a zombie. How long do you think it will take before she hurts herself or you? It makes me sick to see her like that. I can't imagine how you bear it. We have a way to make it stop, to get her back to her normal self."

"But not at that price! I won't let you!" Sydney snarled, standing. "There has to be another way!"

"We wouldn't hurt them! For God's sake, Sydney, do you think I am a monster?"

"Well, I did find Elsa Kaplan and her six year old son chained in the bathroom of a bar, begging for their life because they thought I was there to shoot them!"

"I was not responsible for their abduction! I merely used Kaplan for a few days after his family was returned by you." Spat Irina, angry at the barely hidden accusation. More softly, she started again. "We just have to be convincing enough so the good doctor gives us the files. We won't even go near those children. They won't be hurt. You have my word, Sydney." After a pause, she added, "think about Nadia, sweetheart. It's all that matters. She's the victim here."

"How do we approach that doctor?"

"I'll take care of it. I'll set up a meet at her place of employment under a false pretense."

"And if she calls our bluff?"

"We'll take it from here, but I'll make sure she doesn't. We only have one shot. We have to be very convincing."

"Fine. Just tell me when and where."

"I still have a few things to sort out and preparations to make. It's our only lead, we can't waste it."

"I trust you'll contact me when you're ready then."

"Yes, and I'll give you two days notice so you can fabricate yourself a credible alibi."

"Why would I need such a thing? I can just say I'm leaving for a vacation."

"Even if we do get the files from Dr Varnina, it won't be enough. We will need ingredients to manufacture a cure. Maybe we will have to steal some of them. We may have to take a few trips outside the United States. I'm sure your superiors have you under tight surveillance after Sovogda and your supposed allegiance to me. The last thing we need is the CIA to get suspicious of you. Without you, I can't do anything."

"I'm working among friends; they'll cover for me. I'll figure something out, don't worry about it."

"Sydney, the last thing I want is for you to end up like your father, or to get thrown in solitary because of me. We're not even sure of what we'll find."

"It won't happen, Mom. I promise. But you are right, I should be extra careful with Chase constantly on my back. I can't imagine what would happen to Nadia if I was sent to prison."

"I wouldn't let you rot behind bars, nor would I leave Nadia in a mental institution, but I'm glad we agree on you not going to jail."

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Can we…go somewhere, for a drink? Now?"

Irina hesitated. Her daughter's request was odd, but she did not fear a trap. She was worried about being seen, but Sydney seemed so…hopeful, desperate for her to say yes, she couldn't deny her and accepted, somewhat curious. "Yes, sure. Should we take my car?"

"Yeah, I guess it would be safer. I just want a quiet place, to talk, you know." Feeling she owed her mother an explanation, she timidly started. "I invite Dad to dinner sometimes. We go out or I cook at my place or order Chinese. I just want to do something nice with you too. I know it sounds odd, considering the risk but…"

"We both need it. And I'd love to have a nice time with you. Let's go." They picked up their keys from the valet boys who were tipped generously when asked for the key to their cars. Sydney let Irina lead her to her car.

One of the reasons Irina had bought the club was that it possessed its own underground parking garage. Sydney's tails were probably driving around the city, looking for her car. It was safely tucked away in the parking garage, Sydney was safe and so was she. Irina had a car parked here all year, for her personal use only.

"I'm going to have a field day at the office tomorrow if someone saw me here," noted Sydney, grimacing at the thought.

Irina smiled, mocking. "I promise not to make you come here again, darling. How is that?"

"Sounds good to me. And you're welcome to my place anytime, provided you give me advance notice so I can clear the way for you."

"I'll be sure to take you up on your offer someday." Irina smiled, feeling better than she had in months. She had never been so close to Sydney, not even while on the mission to Kashmir, or on the roof of the CIA building where they had, briefly, hugged.

TBC

Next in "FM - Chapter 6: Reminiscing" (longer than usual), Sydney and her mother talk about Irina's rescue, the mission to Sovogda, their family and what Irina missed while in captivity.


	7. Chapter 6: Reminiscing

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

Chapter 6: Reminiscing 

"Nice," commented Sydney, admiring the luxurious Beamer. "That's exactly the kind of car I pictured you driving," she smiled, "fast, expensive and classy all at once. Tinted windows, leather interior I bet, with all options imaginable. And all black, of course."

"Well I must say I was surprised when I ran your name in the DMV and found out you drove a 2005 Ford Expedition. I thought you were more a sedan kind of woman."

Sydney snorted. "A sedan? Are you kidding? Why not a minivan while you're at it? Seriously Mom, 'Dad' drives a sedan, Weiss, Vaughn, Kendall…everybody I know drives a government issued Ford Taurus, except Marshall. You should see him behind the wheel of his Mini he's so funny! I still wonder how he fits his wife and kid in the little thing."

Irina smiled, remembering fondly the babbling man who had implanted a tracker on her, so many years ago.

"Well next time, I'll make sure not to make such idiotic assumptions about you."

Irina's driving fitted her character. Smooth but fast, though not enough to be stopped by a police car. She had one hand loosely holding the wheel, the other on the gear stick. European cars came with automatic box in option, but Sydney understood her mother's need for control. And manual gear offered so much more performance feel to the driver. They slid into the night in comfortable silence.

"Did you have any particular place in mind?" Asked Irina, suddenly remembering she had picked the club, and that she would like to see what kind of place her daughter liked to frequent.

"Actually yes, I know a bar, cozy, discreet. It's over near the beach. It's called The TimeOut."

They arrived at the bar shortly after, and settled into a booth by the back entrance with strawberry margaritas.

"Mom, I wondered…you never asked how we found you, in Guatemala." 

"True," replied Irina, slightly thrown off by yet again a new topic of conversation she had not been expecting. "My mind was on other things and…I was so relieved you had finally found me. So how did you? Find me I mean. Why at that moment?"

"Dixon, Nadia, and I infiltrated Yelena's facility in Prague. Nadia and I were busy looking for Sloane, but Dixon was outside the building. He saw Sloane, but he was shot by Yelena. When he woke up, he told us…he saw you Mom, in chains being led into a van. He told us you were Yelena's prisoner."

"It seems I owe this man my life. He was your partner at SD-6, wasn't he?"

"Yes! We've always been close. He was my mentor when I started on the job at SD-6. I learned a lot from him, but I had to lie to him about working for the CIA."

"That time is over now, thankfully. I'll have to thank him properly next time I see him…for keeping an eye on my daughter and saving my life."

Sydney smiled, wondering what a 'thank you' would entail from Irina Derevko. "I feel kind of ashamed because I didn't believe him; I thought he was plainly delirious, because he had lost so much blood. Dad insisted it was worth investigating though. I still think it was his guilt talking.

Anyway, we identified one of the men who broke into a DSR facility on Yelena's orders. His name was Lucien Lassard, a former Covenant agent. Marshall managed to place him in the facility in Prague at the same time we were there. Then, all hell broke loose in Sovogda, and Dad decided that our best course of action was to find you, because you were the only one who knew how to safely deactivate the Mueller Device."

"Always the practical one," said Irina thinking of her husband.

"Mom, I'm really sorry I didn't find you sooner." After a short hesitation, she added, "when I learned what Dad had done…or what we thought he'd done, I found your body and identified it. It was you, Mom. I had you cremated and put in a mausoleum near where you were born in Moscow."

"That's…sweet of you, though it's disturbing to hear about it. You have nothing to reproach yourself for sweetheart. I don't blame you, so you shouldn't either. What happened after you decided to find me?"

"Dad was determined. Honestly, I didn't believe it would lead us to anything. But Vaughn and I tracked Lassard to a nightclub in Ibiza, which lead to a pretty awkward moment," she muttered in remembering. Irina raised her eyebrow in question. "Vaughn and I had a private conversation that was overheard through our comms."

"What kind of private conversation, overheard by whom?" Asked Irina, curiosity pricked at yet another chance of getting a peek inside her daughter's life.

"Marshall and Dad. Thank God, he didn't comment on it. We learned that Lassard liked it rough, so Vaughn and I had a disagreement about who should be rough, me or him, and the conversation slid into the topic of our private life…and God, I can't believe I'm repeating that! I finally noticed that we were on comms, Dad confirmed it for me, I found it quite funny actually at the time. Anyway, we went on with the mission and made ourselves noticed by Lassard."

"Let me guess, you got him isolated by the promise of rough sex with you?"

"Yeah, it always works." Sydney grimaced as Irina smiled, agreeing with her unvoiced assessment. Men were pigs.

"I thank you for your devotion to my cause," smiled Irina sincerely.

"My pleasure. I must confess I enjoyed making him talk. He admitted that Elena found the Helix protocol and that you were doubled because she wanted people to believe you were dead." She sighed. "He said a volunteer agreed to be doubled, knowing she'd be killed."

"Some people are devoted to their cause to the point of being a fanatic, willing to lose their life over it."

"Well, I can't comprehend it." She sighed again, and looked her mother straight in the eye. "I asked if you were alive. He said…'of course she is'."

"Is he dead?"

"No. I left him with his head in the toilet bowl, but he was conscious, so there's no chance he drowned, sorry. Vaughn stayed with him to supervise his extradition. He was ex-Covenant. I'm sure the folks at Camp Harris had many questions for him. Actually, for all I know, he might be dead. After that, I met Nadia and Dad in Guatemala, and you know the rest."

Irina nodded, as lost in thought as her daughter was. They both had tears in their eyes, though Sydney spoke first.

"When I saw you in that pit I…couldn't believe it, I couldn't believe it was you, that you were alive, all this time."

"And I couldn't believe you had found me," confessed Irina. "I knew you'd come, but when I saw you, I thought it was another hallucinations, or a new trick of Yelena's."

"I often hallucinated you too, you know. When I grew up. I would dream about you, or think about how you would react to what I did, stuff like that. You were always with me."

"I thought about you a lot too. I imagined holding you at night, it helped me keep warm and fall asleep. Most recently, the hope that you'd realise I was not dead kept me alive." Irina went quiet, not used to confessing her feelings. She still wasn't over what had happened to her. Talking certainly helped though.

The silence was heavy with untold professions of love that neither dared to make. Eventually, Sydney broke the uneasy moment.

"Did it feel good? To hit Dad?" She asked, smiling.

"Yes. Very good." Irina nodded smiling softly. "Though I regret I was not at my full strength then. He deserved more than a slap for what he did, CIA approval or not. I was still his wife and the mother of his children."

"Children?" Asked Sydney, puzzled. "Is there anyone else beside Nadia and me?"

Irina scolded her, "No. It's only the two of you. What do you take me for?"

"Mom, you don't have to pretend with me, I know you had an affair with Sloane."

"I did, but it's not for you and I to discuss. Nadia was not the result of that affair. She's Jack's, no matter what he may think."

"You mean…?"

"He doesn't know…or he does and is too damn stubborn to admit it to himself. It's a wonder you could consider for even a second that Nadia was Sloane's daughter. They look nothing like each other!"

"Well, actually, we learned of her existence because Sloane told the CIA shrink, our dearly beloved Dr Barnett, that he had had an affair with you. He hinted it had resulted in the birth of a little girl, and DNA tests proved she was his."

"DNA is not to be trusted. I thought you of all people would now that," snapped Irina.

Sydney winced. It was true, she did know DNA was not reliable anymore. It could be faked. "I won't apologise for assuming Sloane was her father Mom."

"I don't expect you to," quietly replied Irina, sipping her drink.

"Are you going to tell Dad someday?"

"I told him. Not directly, but I'm sure he figurerd it out. Like I said, he's just too stubborn to deal with it. How did you manage to find Nadia? I looked for her for years. I found nothing…how did you?"

"It was thanks to Sloane actually. I found her in a Chechnyan prison…I screwed up Mom. I threw her into this fucked up Rambaldi world. Sloane backstabbed Dad and me and he took her. He held her against her will and injected her with the Rambaldi fluid."

Irina nodded, heartsick at what happened to Nadia. "No matter what happened, I am glad you found her and befriended her, Sydney. My truest regret was not giving you a sibling, and your father another child. Nadia was supposed to be my gift to him when I left. Instead, my extraction orders came earlier than expected and I had Nadia while in prison for treason."

"What happened to her from there?"

"They took her away from me. They told me she would be raised to hate America, to become a terrorist and kill thousands of Americans."

"I guess Yelena got her hands on her somewhere along the way."

Irina frowned. "What do you mean? What does Elena have to do with Nadia?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

Sydney shook her head, bewildered. "Nadia spent her childhood in an orphanage, and entered Argentinean Intelligence when she was a teenager. Mom, Elena was the director of the orphanage. Nadia has always known her as Sofia Vargas. A few weeks ago, she came to LA to visit Nadia. She stayed at our apartment, and used us to gain access to the NSA facility where Lassard stole the Rambaldi artifacts to build the Mueller Device. We only discovered her true identity after she was gone. Nadia was shattered, Sofia was like a mother to her."

"My God!" Whispered Irina horrified at her sister's cruelty and treachery.

"Yeah. Talk about twisted. When I think I cooked for her, and ate the food she made…makes me shudder."

Irina winced. That's something she would never get to do. She had barely stayed 24 hours in her daughter's apartment when she had visited ten days ago. Yelena had probably shared meals and watched TV with Nadia and Sydney. The three women had settled in a routine at some point. Maybe Yelena had cooked a nice dinner to her nieces and respective boyfriends. Irina would never get to experience that…never.

Jealousy was not something she had tasted since childhood. However, at that moment, she hated her sister even more and wished she had not let her off so easily, with a bullet between the eyes. It was not mercy that pushed her to execute Yelena, nor hatred. It was self-preservation. Yelena knew all her secrets. Her fears, her regrets, her expectations. Yelena had violated Irina in the worst kind of way. She had literally gotten into her mind and taken everything she had wanted from there.

Yelena knew how to break Irina and she couldn't be allowed to live with such knowledge. She didn't want anyone to know what had been done to her in Kashmir, in Camp Harris, and more recently in her sister's custody. She couldn't allow their conversations to be repeated to her daughters or the CIA for instance. There were some things children should never know about their parents and other things that she needed to tell them herself. Basically, she had killed Yelena on instinct. To keep herself out of harm's way…emotional harm.

"I don't have any other sister, so you only have to watch out for Katya." Wasn't joking the best way to deal with pain?

"Yeah, about Katya, I heard she was released shortly after we came back from Sovogda. Have you seen her?"

Irina smiled a devilish smile. "Yes I did. I actually picked her up right outside the penitentiary."

Sydney's mouth moved wordlessly for a few seconds. "No…you didn't! You've got to be kidding me," then she laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. Sobering up, she went on, "what did she tell you?"

"That Nadia had visited her a few times, asking about me, but she said Nadia refused to talk about you."

"Why would she even ask about me?"

"She never had children of her own. Family has always been sacred to her and sides do not matter. I was gone, so it was her role to watch over both my daughters, to the best of her ability."

"Does trying to blow my head off count as protection? Cause that's kind of the reason I never tried to interact with her, to Nadia's complete incomprehension."

"She tried to shoot you?"

"Yeah. It's actually what led her to jail."

"I see."

"She ended up eating chocolate purposely to get sick and asked for me to visit her right before she collapsed. I went to the hospital to see her, do some threatening, which didn't faze her a bit. She actually lectured me on how bad it was to give up on you so easily. It hit home. She told me she had proof that someone had set you up for the hit on my life. I found your music box. Katya was telling the truth, you were innocent." She sighed.

"I'm sorry she upset you. Know that I hold no grudge against you for thinking me capable of hurting you. I can't say I'm pleased, or that I expected it, but I know how people perceive me. I'm surprised you trusted Katya enough to follow her lead though."

"She did raise interesting questions about the reasons you would try to have me killed. Questions I had asked myself without coming up with a plausible answer. Everything she said was right. I shouldn't have been so quick to believe you had hired a hit man to off me."

"Let's not talk about this anymore."

"You're right. Did Katya tell you about Nadia?"

"Yes, but very little. Nadia was more inclined to ask questions about me than to answer questions about herself."

"You can ask me about her, if you want. We lived together for a couple of months. I'd be happy to share with you. We never talked much about you. It was too painful, because of the hit, though she didn't know about it until she told me about Katya. I had to give her a reason why I didn't want to interact with Katya, why I didn't want to hear about your childhood. I guess I should have known she would go to Katya for information, and I'm glad Katya told her about you. Nadia deserved to know you. Will you tell Katya I say 'hi' next time you see her?"

"I will."

They stared off into space silently, enjoying the music. Sydney broke the silence. "So you're back in business? You know so much about things you shouldn't, you must be."

Irina smiled. "I did miss a lot and am trying to catch up on everything that's going on in the intelligence world. I won't get in your way for a while."

Sydney smiled. "Yeah, you missed a lot. I practically killed Dad a few months ago, because I was convinced he was trying to kill me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was infected with some hallucinogen drug. Not my best moment." She sighed, readying herself for her next confession. "About that…Mom, there's something I need to tell you, about you shooting me…"

Irina tensed, shivering as she remembered that dreadful moment where she had had to make a choice…shoot her daughter or watch her die and be killed herself. "Yes?"

"I…I understand now. I mean, I believed you, when you said Cuvee was watching and would have killed us both, but…I was in the same situation, almost two years ago. I was undercover, and got busted with Vaughn, who was identified as CIA. The guy I was working with had a gun to Vaughn's head, and to keep my cover in place and save him…I offered to kill him myself. I stabbed him, Mom. I stabbed him and left him on the side of a dirt road for hours."

"My God, Sydney…"

"I practically killed him Mom. The little hole in my shoulder was nothing compared to what I did to him. I just wanted you to know, that I understand completely, and that I hold no grudge whatsoever against you for it. I wanted to say thank you, actually, because you saved my life that day, like I saved Vaughn's."

Irina smiled and nodded, tears in her eyes. Sydney had granted her absolution for the thing she most reproached herself. She was just saddened Sydney had to go through the same thing as she did to forgive her.

They quickly ran out of things to discuss but neither Sydney nor Irina saw this evening as a mistake, or as lost time. They had come a long way, and taking things slow was the best option.

Irina parked beside Sydney's car under The Executive Suite and got out to say her goodbyes. "One last thing I meant to ask you…"

"Yes?" Prompted Sydney, intrigued at her mother's demeanour.

"How is your father coping with his demotion?"

Sydney frowned. Not because her mother was asking about something she shouldn't know for hundreds of reason, she was not surprised anymore to hear her talk about classified information and so on, but because she could read genuine concern on Irina's face. "I have his job, how do you think he feels?" Asked Sydney a bit reproachfully. She didn't particularly enjoy discussing the issue, with anyone.

Irina sighed, even more worried than before. She had hoped Sydney would give her some reassurance about Jack but it was all to the contrary. "Alright. I just…wondered."

"He's okay, I think. He's not going to throw himself out the window anytime soon."

"Good to know."

"He lives in a first floor apartment. With a cat."

"Did you say a cat?"

"Yes. I couldn't believe it when I saw it."

"Is it dead?"

"No! Dad feeds him, though I can't picture him playing with it."

"I always thought Jack abhorred animals."

"Me too. By the way, I almost forgot, thank you for the book. Everything I had was destroyed by the fire at my house. When I got back, Eric Weiss, asked me what was the thing I missed most. It was that book. We were pretty drunk…actually we were wasted, but…a few days later, he got me a third edition of 'Alice in Wonderland'. I cried for hours."

"He seems like a wonderful man."

"Yeah. He's like…the brother I never had. Dixon was kind of like that too, but more like a…cross between what a Dad should be and a brother. Now he's my boss so we don't have that anymore."

"You are lucky to have such men in your life Sydney," said Irina, squeezing her hand.

"Yeah. I am. I also had two wonderful best friends until they were killed because of me."

"Will Tippin is hardly dead, Sydney; we both know it. I'm sorry about Miss Calfo. I wish I had known it was she who was chosen to be doubled. It would have saved you so much pain…I assumed Sloane had picked one of your colleagues, someone with direct access to both you and the CIA. I was wrong and I'll never forgive myself for that."

"It's okay, you don't need to apologize. The past is what it is, the past." She sighed heavily. "Mom," said Sydney, catching Irina by the arm before she could make it back to her car.

"Yes?" Asked Irina, uncertain.

"Thank you. For earlier, here." She motioned above her, at the now-closed club. "I'll be sure to think about what you said if I ever need someone to talk to."

"It would be my pleasure, Sydney." Irina softly touched her daughter's face, smiling contentedly.

Sydney put her hand on Irina's, squeezed it softly, and turned toward her car.

Finally, a little bit of trust in the kingdom of deceit.

TBC

Next in "FM – Chapter 7: First job", Sydney and Irina take the first step in finding a cure for Nadia.


	8. Chapter 7: First job

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

Chapter 7: First job 

"Goodbye Mom."

"Goodbye, Sydney. Drive safely." She gave her an easy smile and stepped around her car.

"You too."

It seemed like an asinine comment but it held much meaning. They both needed to say it and were happy to hear it. Sydney stayed for a few minutes, lost in thought, and then reluctantly made her way up to the surface, blending in the dark California night.

'Monday, 8h00, LAX, hangar #9. Pack for business' said 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold', the book Sydney had received this morning. She found the package with her mail after her run at the park. It was one of those typical, brown cardboard boxes labeled all around it. She had read the story in college and found it amusing that her mother would choose this particular book as it told about a spy during the Cold War period.

Sydney was pleased Irina had respected her promise of two day's notice, leaving time for her to tell her boss she was taking a vacation.

On the day agreed on, Sydney was ready to leave for her vacation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her new position within APO forbade her from leaving the United States but she actually couldn't care less because it was only a cover. She would never set foot in Louisiana.

When she got to her mother's jet, Irina confirmed she had found Doctor Varnina as Sydney suspected. The scientist was assuming her position of 'Director of Research' from one of Cadmus' laboratories in Gillette, Wyoming.

Cadmus' facility seemed huge in the edge of the small city lost in the middle of nowhere. The building seemed newly built, with a futuristic look and the latest security measures available on the market, hence Irina's reluctance to just break in and look for the files.

Irina and Sydney had no choice but to get into the lab through the front door. Irina, the most knowledgeable, was posing as a biochemist. Sydney was her assistant. Their cover would grant them a meeting with Amelia Varnina. From then on, they would have to improvise.

"Hello, my name is Natalia Barstow and this is my assistant, Nina Myers," said Irina, shaking the doctor's hand.

"Hello. I was told you wanted to visit our facilities…"

"Well, not exactly. Actually, we're here to talk to you about one of your projects."

"Oh…well, I am not allowed to discuss the specifics of ongoing research but…"

"Please, allow me to explain," said Irina with a pleasant smile, seating herself without waiting for her host's invitation. Some of the Derevko magic was displayed.

"By all means," said the doctor, trying to hide her displeasure at the woman's boldness.

"It's quite simple actually. I want everything you have on Doctor Frankel's project."

The doctor looked stunned for a few seconds, but quickly recovered her composure. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you are referring to. If there's nothing else I can do to help…"

"It is I who am sorry. I know Dr Frankel gave you copies of what he was working on. I want those copies, Doctor Varnina." Again, Irina flashed her a warm, inviting smile.

"Thomas was a dear friend of mine, but he retired from Cadmus' and passed away recently...I think you should leave now." Varnina got up to walk them to the door but Irina didn't budge. She took a thin stack of photos out of her bag, deliberately dropping them one by one on the doctor's desk. The woman sat back down, shocked, and Sydney peered at the pictures curiously before gasping in shock. There were only three pictures but they were explicit enough.

The first picture was of a boy, asleep in his bed. The second was of a girl playing in a little plastic pool with a yellow duck.

"I took that one," explained Irina, motioning to the last picture. It showed brother and sister walking in the park with their mother, but the photo was focused on the man behind them. "He took the other two. He has a…history with children, especially little girls," she added, motioning to the man.

Both Sydney and Amelia Varnina looked horrified, though Sydney hid it better. The doctor looked from one woman to the other. She didn't notice Sydney's inability to hold her gaze, as disgusted as she was. She didn't voice her revulsion though. The aim was to convince the doctor without having to get to the children. While Sydney found her mother's methods extreme, she had to admit they were efficient. The pictures weren't indecent, but they caught the children in innocent moments, hinting how easy it had been to approach them.

"I think you should reconsider your answer, Doctor Varnina."

"I..you…" Her mouth moved but no sound came out of it. She collapsed on her chair, putting her hand to her mouth, she whispered, "Monster, you're a monster…"

Irina didn't flinch and merely dipped her head in acknowledgement. "I want those files, Doctor, and I'm willing to go as far as I have to get them."

"I'm calling the Police," stated the doctor, reaching for the phone.

Irina stood and placed her hand over the receiver, blocking her action. "It's not necessary. Tell you what, I'll give you a few days to think about it. Keep the pictures; I have others. No need to call Security either, we'll see ourselves out. Thank you for your time, doctor."

She exited the office, briskly followed closely by an irate Sydney. She didn't speak a word until they were in Irina's car.

"I can't believe you," started Sydney coldly. "What were you thinking?"

"What were you expecting? I knew she wouldn't just give in, so I brought a little incentive. It's only pictures; no harm was done to the children. I had to be convincing, so it wouldn't have to go further. Sadly, it didn't work."

"So what do we do now?"

"We have to get to the doctor's house while her children are still vulnerable."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I did what I could to convince her and it didn't work. It leaves us no choice Sydney."

"Mom!"

"I don't enjoy doing this but it has to be done. Are you with me?"

"No! Of course not!"

""I warned you, Sydney, and you said not to worry, that you were willing to do whatever it took." She softened and took Sydney's hand, giving it a squeeze. "I need you. I can't do this on my own. Please Sydney, I'm not asking you to throw away your ethics or hurt anybody. I'm asking you, I'm begging you to help me save your sister."

"Alright," whispered Sydney, admitting they had no other choice and couldn't afford to wait for another opportunity that may never arise. "I'll do it."

"Thank you."

"Don't." After a pause, she asked, out of curiosity, "what will you do once you have them? What if Varnina doesn't cooperate?"

"We, Sydney. What will 'we' do. Because if you don't help me, I can't do anything and we'll never get those files." On a softer note, she added, "we'll only take the girl, and leave the boy behind. One child will be enough, and he would be more trouble than his sister. She's little. She'll stay put. We just have to keep her away from her mother for a few days and the woman will eat out of our hands. I'm surprised I have to say that but be assured I won't lay a finger on her, no matter what the circumstances. I have a house in Honolulu. Open the glove box."

Sydney obeyed and flinched as she saw two handguns. "We're not doing it like this Mom," she declared, shoving the lid shut.

"Look behind the guns, Sydney," calmly ordered Irina, frustrated.

Sydney did and found a black pouch. Peering inside, she discovered several needles and as many bottles of clear liquid. "What's that?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"It will put them to sleep instantly for several hours. It's painless and efficient. They won't have time to understand a thing. I'll take care of the boy while you get the girl. Be careful to inject only half of it, she's still very young so much lighter than her brother is. A full dose might be too much for her to handle."

"Did you have it all planned since the beginning?" Asked Sydney.

"No," replied her mother, surprising her. "I hoped the good doctor would just give us the files today." Nodding to the pouch, she explained, "I always keep that kind of thing handy. You never know when you might need it. I also have a shotgun, a rope, a Kevlar jacket, and a sniper rifle in the trunk. That doesn't mean I use any of those items everyday."

"It's your 'just in case'?" She had similar equipment in her car, though she had permits, which she doubted Irina had. Not genuine ones at least.

"Exactly. Stop assuming the worst about me, Sydney."

"Sorry."

"Stop apologizing and just think before speaking. Fill two of the syringes and be careful not to prick yourself."

"I'm not an amateur, Mom," mumbled Sydney, offended at the rebuff and the comment.

"Then stop acting like one. Sorry, I'm on edge," said Irina a few seconds later. I don't like what we're doing anymore than you do."

"I thought kidnapping people was your credo, you know, 'cause it's easy to get someone to do anything you want if you're holding their loved ones hostage." Her tone was acerbic but Irina chose to ignore it.

"Yes, you're right, but I am never personally involved."

"Oh, so you have people to do your dirty work. Why don't you call them and tell them to get their asses over here?"

Irina shook her head. "No. Those are children, I won't let any of my men near them."

Sydney looked at her, frowning. "You mean you never had children kidnapped before?"

"Never. While it's the only thing any terrorist or mafia leader truly values, while it's always sure to work, I've never, directly or indirectly, involved children in my business. Until this day, even when it would have been easier, I always found a way around it. Mrs. Varnina is a widow so I can't use her spouse like I would usually do. She has no other family, which leaves me no choice. And I can't afford to wait for another opening."

Sydney nodded. "Wow. I never thought you had rules," she said pensively. "Let alone a conscience."

Her mother ignored her and changed the subject as she pulled on the side of the road. "We're almost there. From what I know, it's only the two children and the nanny."

She rummaged in a bag on the back seat and offered Sydney a change of clothes. She traded her linen skirt and her stiletto heels for jeans and boots. She replaced her linen jacket with a leather jacket. The whole change made her look twice as dangerous, Sydney noted as she finished changing too. Irina got back on the road and handed her daughter a ski mask, which Sydney eyed dubiously.

"Their mother will know we're responsible but she won't call the police. That doesn't mean we need to give the nanny or the boy a chance to give a full description of what we look like."

Sydney nodded and took the item, stashing it in her pocket for later use. "You're equipped like a SWAT team," she said, eyeing the contents of the bag. Irina smiled at the compliment. Sydney could have sworn she saw her eyes twinkle. "A few months ago the CIA raided my house because of Elena. Nadia beat one of the agents up when he entered the bathroom without introducing himself. She almost blew another's head off."

"I'm sorry Elena caused you so much trouble…"

"It's not your fault. We should have been more careful. They searched the place but they put everything back the way it was once they knew we were not the bad guys. The funny part is that they found my little collection of weapons and they weren't happy about it. You should have seen the face of the agent who lectured me. He even made a list of all the 'lethal items' he found!"

"That bad?" Irina was curious to find out more about the Derevko in Sydney. Having weapons on hand was a major trait of the family.

"Oh, let's see, an assault rifle, a shot gun, four handguns, and two tasers. I think what really got to him was the, I quote, 'secret drawer of knives'.

"Oh darling, I'm so proud of you!" Irina said laughing ironically and making Sydney laugh also.

The break was welcome but short-lived. Irina stopped the car on the side of a house. "This is it," she said while opening the glove box. She handed a gun to Sydney and took the other one for herself. "Just in case we run into trouble. People tend to get less heroic when they see a gun," she said, tucking her piece in the waistband of her jeans. Sydney kept one of the needles for herself and gave the other to Irina. They walked through the gate and nonchalantly made their way to the door.

"Sydney, just consider this another one of your missions, a job, nothing more, and you'll be okay." Irina put on her mask and Sydney followed.

Sydney nodded and watched, surprised, when her mother simply rang the doorbell until she noticed there was no peephole. A woman in her thirties opened the door but her smile disappeared the second she spotted the visitors. Irina punched her square in the nose and she fell backwards, unconscious.

After searching the ground floor and finding it empty, they silently made their way upstairs, where the bedrooms were. Sydney's heart was pounding. The children were probably playing, with no idea of what was about to happen to them. She tried to reason with herself that they would not be hurt, but it did nothing to comfort her. The boy would only wake up with a headache, but the girl, 'Tanya' as it said on the door, would wake up with strange people, away from her home and her mother.

The third door she opened lead to the girl's room. She was sitting on the floor, playing with a Ken and a Barbie. She looked at Sydney with such an innocent look that it left her weak in the knees. She just stood there, frozen. The little girl's eyes turned fearful and she let out a high-pitched scream.

TBC

Next in FM, "Chapter 8: The Man", Syd has questions and tales to tell then finds out Irina, The Man and Laura are very real.


	9. Chapter 8: The Man

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

**Chapter 8: The Man****  
**  
The little girl ran past Sydney straight into Irina. She quieted down and looked at the second woman with wide eyes, slowly backing away from her. She realised she was trapped between the two intruders. Her bottom lip quivered as she clutched a yellow stuffed animal in her little arms. For a few seconds, nobody moved. Finally, Sydney caught Irina's glare and regained the ability to move. She fumbled with her jacket for the needle she had packed and eventually stuck it into the child's arm, careful not to give her everything. She was grateful Tanya had her back to her, so she didn't have to see the pain and terror she knew to be written all over the girl's face.

"Sydney?" Asked Irina as she knelt down beside her daughter, who held Tanya's head on her lap.

"I…she looked so scared…I just froze" she murmured, still a little dazed.

"That's why I wanted you to use this," she said, pointing to the syringe Sydney had thrown to the ground as if burned. "So they wouldn't have time to get scared."

"I'm sorry, I screwed up."

"It's okay; she probably won't remember a thing." Then, more forcefully, "Come on, snap out of it Sydney, the doctor is probably already on her way."

Sydney nodded mutely, still in shock.

Even in her sleep, Tanya looked terrified to Sydney, and it was all her fault. If only she hadn't hesitated, had done what she was supposed to do, the child would have peacefully gone to sleep and would have made beautiful dreams of princesses and Teletubies.

Sighing, she took in the child-like decoration of the room and couldn't help but smile when she spotted the stuffed Pikachu lying on the ground. She had bought one for her cousin last Christmas. Without thinking, she picked it up and stuck it under her arm before reaching down for the girl. Mindful of the little body she was now cradling in her arms, she quickly made it downstairs.

Irina was sliding a piece of paper in the nanny's hands just as the phone rang for the umpteenth time. Probably the children's mother trying to get in touch with their caretaker. She would have a hell of a surprise when she came home. Sydney nodded approvingly and went for the door. Irina frowned as she spotted two giant yellow ears protruding from under her arm, oddly reminding her of Jack's own oversized ears.

"Where's the boy?" Asked Sydney as they passed the door.

"Out cold in his room."

They made it to the car where Sydney laid the little girl on the backseat. Irina turned up the heat so Tanya, who was wearing only her PJs, wouldn't get cold. Sydney was surprised by the attention but didn't comment. Her mother might not be such a btch after all.

Irina swore as she spotted the BMW SUV that she knew the doctor was driving, but sighed as she remembered her own car had tinted windows. It would have been messy, had the doctor spotted her. They drove to the airport without being stopped and reached their final destination within five hours of flight.

Irina had called her 'housekeeper' to set up a guest room for the girl in her secluded home. When they reached the house, Sydney was in awe by size of the house.

Irina was cooking breakfast while Sydney was watching her from the island in the middle of the kitchen. They had talked a little on the plane and her mother told her it had gone well. Her conscience still bothered her but she had something more important to worry about now. She was alone with her mother and the women had nothing to plot. It was the perfect time to tackle a painful subject. "Mom."

"Yes Sydney?"

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you for awhile." For years, actually.

"What is it?"

Sydney took a deep breath. Ever since she knew her mother was 'The Man,' she had had two questions that wouldn't leave her. The first one, the reason why Irina had shot her, had been answered. The second one held even more importance to her, but the fear of what her mother would tell her had discouraged her from asking every time she had thought about doing so.

"When you…unleashed Cole and his band of mercenaries on SD-6…did you know I was there?"

"Sydney…"

"I asked a simple question, demanding a simple answer, yes, or no." Sydney's voice was strained. Her mother's expression gave her the feeling she wouldn't like the answer Irina had to give.

"Yes. I knew you worked for SD-6 and that there was a chance you would be here on that day."

"Should I be shocked?"

"Sydney, I never meant for you to get hurt."

"So what? You crossed your fingers and prayed I wouldn't show up for work? That I would somehow slip on a banana skin, break my arm and take a medical leave? Well, no such luck. Did you know that, right after I came back from Taipei with a bullet hole in my shoulder, thanks to you, they held me for two days in handcuffs with a fucking sling?"

"Sydney…"

"Your men started to line us up against the wall, all grouped so they could fire into the crowd, kill us like a bunch of rabid dogs!"

"I saw the tapes, Sydney. Everything from the moment your colleagues were gassed to the moment you ran out of the vault's room behind Cole. I never meant for anything to happen. Cole and his men were supposed to secure everyone and get to the vault. They just weren't expecting resistance."

"I see, so it's not your fault; it's ours, mine. And where did you get those tapes anyway? The CIA confiscated them so Vaughn wouldn't be seen by SD-6."

"Agent Haladki."

Sydney gave her a disgusted look. "Haladki. Of course. That slimy piece of sht!"

"My point is I apologise for what happened. Cole was not supposed to kill anyone except if the mission was threatened. It wasn't. He was out of line."

"Out of line? He was insane!"

"Yes, I guess he was."

"Too bad you didn't see me kick his ass in the parking garage. He never even got to throw a punch."

Irina smiled broadly. "I did see the way you handled him, when he talked about your previous encounter. You have such wit! Tell me, you did remember him, didn't you?"

"Yeah! He was such a pig, 'insanely inappropriate' doesn't even begin to cover what he said to me in that break room."

"You've gone so far on your own Sydney. You're a wonderful woman. If it hadn't been for you, the mission would have been a success…"

"And my colleagues and friends would be dead. And me as well probably. All because you hired a lunatic."

"I'm proud of you Sydney. That's all I meant to say."

Sydney nodded and changed the subject, feeling oppressed by the heavy silence between them. "Cole was insane but he hit pretty hard and pretty good. I had bruises for weeks. The only good thing about that day is that it brought everybody closer."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…usually, we don't interact with each other outside of our own team. That day… things happened, things that should never have happened, that nobody could have ever imagined. Many of our colleagues were killed or injured. Agents, security guards, analysts…We never mixed, we didn't know each other. But after, when it was time to pick up the pieces and the bodies, people just helped each other, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Before we were all so unfeeling, uncaring for one another, event though some of us had been working side by side for years.

We were all shocked; we thought our office was the safest place in the world, away from the field, the bullets, and the dead. This changed everything. You saw the tapes, I can't explain it, but it was beautiful. Among all that horror, that mayhem, perfect strangers managed to comfort each other, to make everything better. Perfect strangers hugged one another!"

She sighed, shaking her head. Irina nodded pensively, but felt she had no right to try and comfort her daughter. She was responsible for her pain and had made 'the' decision to send Cole in, thinking he could not be trusted.

"But the most horrible part was not the loss, the destruction. No. For me, it was the congratulations. The next day when I came back, everybody was here. We looked like sht, battered and bruised, but we were all there. And when I came out of the conference room, they had all gathered, waiting for me. They were all around me and started clapping, thanking me, with such bright smiles on their faces. It made me want to vomit, because all those good people…were working for the devil and almost died for him without knowing it."

"Now he won't cause any problem. The CIA won't make the same mistake twice. He'll never see the light of day again." Irina said it convincingly, but she knew how the CIA worked.

"I hope not. Though that reminds me, there 'is' a bright point to this day. Sloane was tortured and Dad had to cut his finger off! Too bad the surgeons managed to attach it back."

Irina smiled, glad her daughter was done with her somber thoughts. It eased what little guilt she felt. "Yes, indeed, I heard about that. I only regret there was no camera in the 'conversation room' as Sloane nicely put it."

"I've been there a couple of times. Didn't enjoy myself much." Irina looked at her, surprised. "Hey, I was a double agent. At SD-6, an incoherence, or someone's hunch can get you good to go for a psych evaluation, an interrogation, a torture session or simple murder, no questions asked."

"The CIA can be quite hasty as well."

"Yeah, I won't disagree with you on that. You know, it's somewhat ironical. Since the beginning, you claimed you want me out of the business, and that day…I had come in to resign, no matter the consequences. I wanted out."

"I'm sorry I foiled your plans of early retirement."

"You mean my suicide mission! Don't be sorry. I would have been killed. I was just too shaken up to realise it at the time. Or I knew and didn't care. I don't know. Plus, I messed up with your plans for SD-6 so we're even."

Irina smiled. "You should go check on Tanya."

"Yeah. I'll do that." She got up and reluctantly walked to the door. She stopped, hesitating, but didn't turn around and left Irina there alone with her thoughts. Sydney had her answer. Her mother had known the risk to her and had sent Cole in anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Sydney poked her head in the room and gasped at what she saw. Tanya was wide-awake. She slowly backed away from her bed when she saw Sydney, and stopped when she hit the window. She apparently remembered everything from last night, to Sydney's dismay.

Her guilt reared its ugly head and she cursed herself for hesitating and screwing everything up, but also for not changing her clothes. She had been wearing a mask when she had attacked the child. The word made her shiver. 'Attack'. She might have fooled her into thinking she was not the evil woman from her room that had scared her and taken her away, if only she was now wearing different clothes.

She had been so shaken up by the previous day's events that a shower and a change of clothes had been the last thing on her mind. She watched in utter horror as Tanya's bottom PJs darkened. The poor little thing had dirtied her PJs, and she was sobbing. She probably interpreted Sydney's expression as one of anger, aimed at her. "Tanya, its okay, it's nothing, don't be upset…" she tried to reassure her, but in vain.

At a loss of what to do, she called out for her mother, praying Irina's maternal instincts were not buried too deep.

"Oh Mom, thank God! I don't know what to do! I think I'm scaring her…"

Thankfully, her mother immediately knew what to do. She knelt down before Tanya and rubbed her back, smiling in a way Sydney hadn't seen her do in years. "Hey baby. Don't cry, its okay, we're not mad at you. It was an accident that's all." Irina had such a warm smile, a honey like voice, Sydney felt light-headed. She was seeing a ghost. She snapped out of it when her mother asked her to get Mary, the maid, to clean up the stain on the carpet. By the time she came back, a minute or so later, Tanya was merely sniffling.

Irina led them to the adjacent bathroom and motioned for Sydney to start a bath. She added bubbles and watched, fascinated, as Irina stripped the little girl, and wiped her bottom with a paper towel. Sydney found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the pair. Her mother set her charge in the bath and finally seemed to take notice of her own daughter

"Sydney, are you okay?"

She nodded numbly and walked out, her head full of the memory of herself being bathed by her mother. For a minute, she could totally picture Irina as a grandmother, which felt really weird. She sat on Tanya's bed to wait and picked up the stuffed toy she had placed in the girl's arms as she was laying her in her bed the previous night. She was disturbed by the fact that the child was scared of her but not of Irina. It was she who was the bad guy in this story, not her mother, and she hated the role reversal.

Irina exited the bathroom and asked Sydney to help Tanya get dressed while she herself would finish preparing breakfast. Sydney was slightly panicked by the idea of being alone with the little girl but realised that if her mother could do it, then so could she. She uncomfortably waved her hand at the child when she poked her head out of the bathroom. The little girl seemed more settled than before; she merely stared at Sydney warily while letting her dress her.

Growing up, Sydney had always wondered what it would have been like to have an elder or younger brother or a sister. Never in her wildest dream had she imagined she actually did have a sibling, born from the union of her mother and the devil himself. Thankfully, Nadia was nothing like her father, and Sydney would do anything to get her back.

"Breakfast should be ready, let's get downstairs." Seeing the little girl wasn't moving, she added, "You can take Pikachu with you if you want." She stepped in the corridor, giving her space. Tanya hesitantly followed her, clutching the little beast.

Irina had set the table for three, with orange juice, pancakes, butter, jam, scrambled eggs, bacon and syrup. "Hi, come on in, don't be shy." She smiled, inviting Tanya to step forward.

Sydney helped Tanya up on the stool and took her place before Irina.

"Orange juice?" Asked Irina before pouring them all a drink after no answer but from her daughter.

"His name is Pika-Pika." Tanya timidly said, breaking the silence.

Sydney looked up from her plate. "Excuse me?" She asked, aware the remark had been directed to her.

"It's a Pikachu but everyone calls him that. I wanted mine to have a special name, just for him," she waved her yellow stuffed animal by the ear.

"Oh, that's nice," replied Sydney, amused at the child's spirit.

"Who are you? What am I doing here? Where's my Mom?"

Sydney and Irina looked at each other hesitantly. They had expected such questions, but Sydney wasn't sure how to answer to a five year old. Thankfully, Irina did.

"My name is Natalia, and this is Nina. You're going to stay with us for a few days and then we'll bring you back to your Mom."

"She's not here?"

"No, she's home, with your brother."

"Oh."

Sydney was stunned. Her mother was being honest and non-cryptic. Except for their names. That was a first. She smiled to herself though; her mother was brilliant. The kid would never drop it unless she thought she was being treated as an adult, and that's exactly what Irina was doing, by explaining to her the situation. She made a complicated thing sound so simple.

As a child, Sydney was curious of everything; she remembered asking many questions, to which Irina always had answers that she could comprehend.

Irina felt the girl was not satisfied with her answer but didn't dare ask more questions. She decided to clarify. "I want something from your Mom, but she doesn't want to give it to me yet, but as soon as she does, you'll get to see her again."

"Why she don't want to give you your thing?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. I don't know."

Sydney too would have liked the answer to that question. Irina was merely asking the doctor for files, so why had she refused? It didn't make any sense. Sydney had taken a liking in the little girl already. She was that kind of kid who made you want to have children of your own someday. She couldn't understand why in heaven Dr Varnina would give her up to protect her ex-lover's work.

TBC

Next in Family matters: "Chapter 9: Closing the deal". Sydney and her mother talk about losing a child and move on to their respective 'love life'. Sydney is getting obsessed with Irina hiding things from her but will she eventually get her way? Will Irina?


	10. Chapter 9: Closing the deal

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

Chapter 9: Closing the deal 

Irina gave her alias to the security guard and watched as he called Doctor Varnina's office. This time she did not have an appointment so she needed the approval of the person she was visiting to get past the lobby.

"Doctor, a 'Natalia Barstow' is here to see you. She's not on the list, should I let her up? Yes Ma'am."

The man nodded at Irina and handed her a visitor's pass. Everything was going smoothly. The woman was waiting for her at the elevator door on the seventh floor. She looked like she had aged ten years in four days.

"Hello Doctor," said Irina pleasantly, aware that they weren't alone in the area.

"Where is she? Where is Tanya? I know you have her!" She started, outright panicked.

"Please, Amelia, I think we should discuss this in private." She took the woman's arm and led her to her office. She sat down in the same chair she had occupied only days ago and waited for the doctor to settle in her own chair. "Did you call the police?"

"No. The note you left to the nanny said not to."

"What about her?"

"She works for me, I paid her an extra month's salary to make sure she spoke to nobody about what she saw. I took her to the hospital and told the doctor she had broken her nose by falling from a ladder while cleaning my windows."

"Good," praised Irina, genuinely admiring the woman's genius. "So you do love your daughter after all."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Why didn't you give me those files the first time I asked, knowing I had access to your children?"

"I wanted to…I couldn't…I love my children, but I couldn't live with myself knowing what I did…it's too dangerous. I couldn't give you the means to kill millions of people, not even to save my baby girl…I still can't."

Irina pursued her lips. "I have something here that may change your mind." She repeated the process of laying three photos side by side on the desk. The woman grasped them avidly with a worried expression that softened as she zipped through the pictures.

The first one was a shot of Tanya asleep in their bed, showing the space around her: a nice bedroom stuffed with toys, TV, and books. "Yesterday she went to sleep at 21h00 and the day before at 20h00. She's a very easy child."

The second picture was of a smiling Tanya in the kitchen as she ate French fries while someone's arms could be seen cutting her chicken into pieces. 'Pika-Pika' was seating next to the girl's plate. "She takes it everywhere with her and pretends to feed him. But I suppose you knew about that already."

The last shot showed Sydney and Tanya holding hands at the beach, soaking wet as they made their way out of the water. Sydney held a green inflatable crocodile under her arm and seemed unaware of anyone watching her, let alone taking pictures. "She loves water, you should sign her up for swimming classes next summer," said, Irina, bringing the woman's attention back to her. "She told Nina she'd like to go to the beach with you when you come to get her. She misses you."

The doctor burst into tears, her eyes roaming lovingly over the set of pictures. A spark of jealousy lit up as she glanced at the last picture again. "She seems so happy. Your friend is nice to take care of her like this." She was taking the time to be with her, to play with her. Amelia devoted very little time to Rafael and Tanya, too busy with work. A stranger, a kidnapper was doing a better job with the child than her own mother was.

Irina shifted forward in the chair, feeling an opening. "But it's not her place. You should be the one to do that," she said, pointing to Sydney in the picture she appeared. "Doctor, think hard before you give me your answer. And you need to know, I don't want those files to manufacture the virus."

"I know who you are," Dr Varnina said accusingly, "I know what you did to Thomas…you are evil Ms. Derevko. I know exactly what you plan on doing with his research."

"Where did you get that name?"

"Thomas told me whom he was working for. He said you were dangerous; he said not to approach you or let myself by approached by you."

"Doctor Varnina, I never met Thomas Frankel. Who do you think I am?" Asked Irina, getting angry.

"Elena Derevko," replied the woman, equally annoyed.

Irina stood up, furious. "You have me confused with someone else, Doctor. Elena was my sister."

"Was? Then…why…"

"She infected my daughter with the virus and I killed her for that. I want Frankel's files to create an antidote, not to engineer more of this plague!"

The woman looked at her, stunned. "Wha…"

"I am not known for my patience, Doctor," snapped Irina. "Will you give me those files or should I send you your daughter back in a shoe box?" Irina stared with an icy glare. The mention of her sister always brought out the worst in her. She regretted her words the moment she said them but stood her ground.

"It's not here," she finally admitted, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Then where is it?"

"How do I know you won't kill my daughter once you have what you want?"

"I want to make something clear Doctor, whatever happens, I would never hurt Tanya. But I can keep her away from you for a very, very long time. I could give you my word but I doubt it would suffice."

"We have to go to Thomas's grave. I wanted this horrible thing to die with him. It cost him his life and thousands of others, I didn't want to be next. I didn't want anybody else to suffer because of it."

"It can help someone stop suffering ."

"The cemetery is only a half hour drive from here."

In the car, Amelia started to ask questions about her daughter, about what she had been doing for the last four days. Irina patiently answered them, and the doctor felt confident enough to move on to another topic.

"Who is she? The woman on the pictures, the one who came to my office…Nina Myers? I can't imagine what she's doing with someone like you."

"You're right. She's a good person. She's my eldest daughter. She's a lot like me, even though she won't admit it. But she would do anything for her family."

"Was she like that? Your other daughter, before being infected, was she like Nina?"

"Yes." Irina knew very little of Nadia actually, only what people told her. And what she had learned for herself on the plane back to Los Angeles; then on the mission to Sovogda, but that was none of the doctor's business.

"Can I…Can I talk to Tanya please?" Asked the doctor, her eyes full of hope.

Irina hesitated but there wasn't any reason not to let her talk to her daughter. She dialed Sydney's cell phone. "Hey, sweetheart, where are you?"

"At the beach. Where else?"

Irina smiled, nodding to herself. "I thought so. Doctor Varnina has finally come to her senses. We're on our way to get the files. She wants to talk to her daughter."

"Okay, I'll put her on."

"All right. I'll call you after I'm done here."

"Okay, bye."

"Goodbye sweetheart."

Five minutes later Irina asked for her phone back. They had arrived at Highland Cemetery, where they quickly located Thomas Frankel's grave. They waited until it was dark and no one was around.

Irina dug up the man's coffin on her own. Amelia watched her, impressed, but didn't offer her help. She realised the woman was not someone to joke with and that she had done well to give her the location of the files finally. She turned away when Irina opened the coffin and only glanced back when the other woman returned the earth to the grave.

"We don't need anybody to know someone took something from that coffin," Irina explained on their way to the car. She quickly examined the coloured folders but the file was thick. She would need a specialist's help to go through them and understand them properly.

"You have what you wanted; now please return my daughter, or tell me where she is. Please."

"Of course. I'll take you to her and you can bring her home yourself."

Twelve hours later, they arrived in Irina's house on Aalapapa Drive in Honolulu. It was night when they stepped into the quiet house. They went to the living room where they found Sydney sprawled on the couch, a children's book on her lap, with Tanya curled up at her side. Both were sleeping soundly, which made a very cute picture from Irina's point of view. Sydney felt a presence and slowly opened her eyes, and, albeit caught off guard, smiled in greeting at her mother and her guest. The woman hesitantly approached the couch and kissed her little girl whom she hadn't seen in almost five days.

"Hey. What time is it?" Asked Sydney of her mother.

"Eleven."

"God, I'm too young to be asleep at this hour on a Friday night." To the frowning doctor, she explained, "she had a nightmare so she crashed here, didn't want to be alone. I read her a story and she fell right back asleep." Sydney quieted as the little girl stirred against her. She settled in a new position and went back to sleep. "You're lucky, she' so sweet," she continued, smoothing the girl's hair away from her face. "You should take her to her room. First flood, third door on your left." Amelia nodded and picked Tanya up, leaving Sydney and Irina alone.

"How did it go?"

"Good. I have the files but we may need Doctor Varnina longer than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Thomas Frankel had a PhD in Chemistry. I don't."

"You can hire somebody who does."

"Yes but they won't be familiar with the orchid formula. Dr Varnina is and she has a PhD. She even has Frankel's job."

"Mom…"

"We need someone competent to analyze the files for us, Sydney."

Sydney sighed, knowing it was fruitless and unnecessary to argue. Her mother was right. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? Give her a room, let her be with her kid just for tonight?"

"Of course. But this issue won't go away overnight. You need to start thinking about going back to Los Angeles. You have a job, and responsibilities. The longer you're away, the more they will scrutinize you and your activities."

"I know. We'll see how tomorrow goes, but I'll be gone by the next day. I'm going to miss you, Mom, and Tanya. I like having you around. I like taking care of her, playing with her. She makes me want to have kids of my own. A boy and a girl, I think."

Irina smiled and sat down on the bed, passing her arm around Sydney's shoulders. "With Michael?"

"That's what I had in mind when we were on our way to Santa Barbara."

"And now?"

"I don't know. I haven't spoken to him. I plan to, but first, I need to get my life back together. I want to get Nadia healthy before I decide anything about Vaughn."

"I understand. I won't mention it again then."

"Thanks. Mom. What about Dad?"

"What about your father?"

"When are you going to make up with him?"

Saying that Irina was shocked was an understatement, but she didn't let it show. "Sydney, your father and I are very different than you and Michael. Agent Vaughn is not a terrorist; he has been cleared of all suspicion. You can see him without risking jail. You can't compare our situations, Sydney."

"I'm not. Not exactly. I just wonder when you are going to hook back up together."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not naïve, I know when you looked for me that you…got all chummy with each other. You weren't afraid of the consequences then, so why be now? You were willing to take risks because you loved each other."

"Sydney, you were dead. At first, we were looking for your killers, not for you. There's no worse feeling on Earth than to have your children die before you. Whatever happened between your father and I during those first few weeks was out of grief. We had nothing left but each other. We didn't care about the consequences. You were dead and we mourned you." She turned her head away, a sorrowful look on her face, unable to find the words to convey her sorrow.

Sydney clutched her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm here, Mom. I'm alive and well."

Irina nodded, returning the gesture. "Back then, we got closer as parents, not as lovers, even if sexual intercourse was involved."

Sydney rolled her eyes and made a face. "I didn't need to hear that, but thanks for lightening the mood."

"When I turned myself in, your father tried to have me killed, Sydney. He hated me, because he thought I was trying to manipulate you. Then when he 'killed me' in Vienna, I hated him when Elena told me. Maybe I still do. I don't know if we can recover from that." Irina closed her eyes and turned away for a moment.

"Sorry. I won't talk about it again then."

"Thank you."

"I need your advice…about Vaughn…once we're past talking…I'm not sure what to do. I'm not willing to take the risk to be hurt again, so that must mean I don't love him."

"Don't you? Sydney, you must know for yourself whether you love a man or not. It's normal not to want to go back to him, but that doesn't mean you don't have feelings for him. Start by talking to him, letting him explain, and then you'll go from there."

"But don't we say that actions speak louder than words?"

"It's just a saying. No cats have been seen to die and come back to life eight more times. It's better you distance yourself at first. Don't rush things. Talk on the phone; then in a private place. Don't jump a step, don't go too far until you are sure, until you have all your answers."

Sydney nodded pensively. She had the feeling Irina was referring to that time she had told her about. In Liberty Village, when Vaughn and she had just gone back together and had ended straight into bed. Or rather, in the shower, before even going out for coffee. "I won't. That passion that pushed me to kiss him in the bathroom…it's gone."

"It will come back."

"How can you know?"

"I know."

"Thank you Mom."

"Goodnight." Irina was about to leave to go to bed herself, but Sydney cut her plans short.

"Mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can I ask you something? Now that I confessed to my most deeply hidden feelings?"

"You know you can ask me anything anytime Sydney."

"Why did you kill Bill Vaughn?" Irina stayed silent, her face a blank mask. Sydney decided to insist. "You said you met him at the KGB academy and that you had something to settle with him. What was it?"

"There are things a daughter should never now about her mother, Sydney. I'm sorry, I can't answer your question." She left before Sydney could ask more or even wish her goodnight. She would have gone after her if she had thought it would give her answers. She was intrigued and vaguely worried, but it would have to wait until tomorrow.

TBC

Next in Family matters, Syd discovers the true reason Irina tortured then killed Bill Vaughn, aka Adrian Mikailovich (a clue: it's not about Nadia)


	11. Chapter 10: The ugly truth

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

"_There are things a daughter should never now about her mother, Sydney. I'm sorry, I can't answer your question." She left before Sydney could ask more or even wish her goodnight. She would have gone after her if she had thought it would give her answers. She was intrigued and vaguely worried, but it would have to wait until tomorrow._

**Chapter 10: The ugly truth ****  
**

The next day, breakfast was ready when Sydney, Tanya, and Amelia entered the kitchen, but Irina was nowhere to be found. Sydney asked a guard posted by the French doors but he shrugged, saying his boss was in her office and didn't want to be disturbed.

Sydney knocked on her mother's office door, ignoring the guard's earlier warning. Getting no reply, she pushed open the door and gasped at what she saw. Chaos. On the desk, on the table, on the floor…everywhere she looked, she saw shattered furniture and objects. Her mother was sitting behind her desk, facing the window with a blank look on her face.

"Mom?" Asked Sydney, carefully making her way to her mother's seat. She waved her hand in front of Irina's face but still obtained no reaction. She was worried now. She tentatively reached out to touch her mother's shoulder and was thrown backward as soon as she made contact. Stunned, she found herself flat on her back, not sure how she got there.

She felt pain, and blood, and did not at first understand. Irina regained her bearings and focused on her daughter. Horrified, she looked from her clenched fist to Sydney, who finally understood. Her mother had hit her.

"Oh my God, Sydney!" Irina rushed to her daughter's side, who was still sprawled on the floor, a look of bewilderment on her face.

"I'm fine!" She said, holding her hands up to keep her mother from getting closer. She refused Irina's help, standing on her own. Blood was gushing from her nose and was spilling on her chin, her clothes, and the floor.

"I'm sorry! My God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…" Irina was feeling sick and her head was spinning. She usually was not squeamish around blood, but she was the cause of it.

"I'm fine, Mom, really, I've been hit a hundred times like that. Mom? You should sit down!" Her mother did not look well, and that coupled with the fact she wasn't responding a few minutes earlier worried Sydney a great deal. "Mom, are you okay?" She gently pushed Irina back until she plopped down on her chair, a look of lost little girl on her face. "Mom, is there a doctor I can call?" 

Irina seemed to snap out of it and looked at Sydney. "I'm okay, Sydney." Eyes riveted on her daughter's face, she whispered, horrified, "My God, what have I done?"

"It looks worse than it feels, really, just point me to the ice and I'll be fine," joked Sydney, hoping to relieve her mother's worry and guilt. She had never seen Irina look so desperate, so truly regretful.

Irina called for a guard to bring her ice and towels. She sat Sydney in her chair and took care of her bleeding nose. "It's not broken," she announced, more for herself than Sydney. She was relieved, but still felt guilty. "Sydney I didn't mean to do that, I swear it was an accident…"

"Of course, it was! Stop it, Mom, it's nothing! Really, I won't blame you for it, it's my fault, I startled you. It happened to me too you know, with a friend. She was trying to wake me up from a nightmare and I slugged her, almost fractured her jaw. I was worried about you; you weren't responding to me, did you even hear me? Where did you go?

Irina gulped, still shaking from the shock, she answered without thinking. "Lost in the past."

"It's about Bill's death, isn't it?" Asked Sydney, voice muffled by the towel full of ice cubes she was now holding over her nose.

Irina made her way to the liquor cabinet and fumbled with the bottles before she managed to pour herself a drink of vodka. "I knew you wouldn't let it go so easily," she muttered, gulping down the burning liquid.

"Tell me Mom, what did he do to you that you felt the need to cut him to pieces?" Asked Sydney, softly, mindful to not sound accusatory.

"Drop it, Sydney, I mean it," snapped Irina, swallowing her second drink.

"Mom, you want me to open up to you. You want to be a part of my life, but for this to happen, it needs to work both ways." Sydney realised appealing to Irina's reasonable side might not have been a great idea considering her current state of mind.

Irina threw her a murderous look, but Sydney merely stared back. "This is affectionate blackmail," muttered Irina reproachfully.

"Yes, I have no shame, so sue me," Sydney tried to remain light hearted. She stood next to Irina and fixed herself a drink, earning a raised eyebrow from her mother. She took a sip and smiled in appreciation. "You have the good stuff." She dipped her head, smiling.

"Yes. Not something you would find at your local supermarket." Irina sighed, knowing the small talk was only a tactic to get her to cool down and get on with the real deal. How considerate of Sydney to give her a ten second reprieve. She admired her daughter's tenacity, even if it was aimed at making her talk, irritating her in the process.

As expected, Sydney 'smoothly' slid back to what she had set her mind on. "Have you…did you talk to somebody about whatever it is that Vaughn's father did to you?"

"No. I'm not about to. It is my private life, Sydney."

"I understand that, but I'm your daughter, Mom…"

"Ever heard about that stupid saying, 'Curiosity killed the cat'? Asked Irina darkly.

"The hell with it, Mom. The cat had nine lives, and so do I," snapped Sydney, a predatory smirk on her face. She was getting closer, her mother's patience was wearing thin. She was either going to spill the beans or blow up.

"No offence but you are the last person I would come to with this particular problem."

"None taken. But, Mom, you know I'll find out, somehow, what you're hiding from me. I just want to give you the chance to tell me yourself, to give me your version."

"There is no version to give little girl!" Roared Irina, slamming her glass on the little table. "You will not research that matter further, and you will not mention Bill's name in my presence again, do you understand?"

Sydney couldn't help but take a step back and winced as Irina's face fell. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you," whispered her mother, turning away.

"It's okay."

"Just…some things are meant to remain private, and that's one of those things. Please, promise me you won't…just let it go Sydney. It was more than twenty years ago, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Okay, I promise I won't bother you with it again. I'm sorry I upset you." She slowly wrapped her arms around her mother from behind, careful not to spook her again. She had shed her share of blood for the day.

Irina pressed her hands against Sydney's and leaned back on her, closing her eyes. She knew Sydney couldn't help but look into it as soon as she would have the opportunity. That's what she would do, and that's what her daughter would do as well. They were made from the same wood. They were Derevkos.

"He took something from me. Something that was not meant for him to take," she started, still not opening her eyes. It was easier this way. It was easier to talk, to tell.

She felt Sydney freeze when she started to talk, but she didn't try to pull away from the embrace. For that, Irina was grateful. She would need all the support she could get. Never in over twenty years had she told that story to any soul.

"The KGB told me to extract Bill Vaughn, to meet him in a warehouse by the pier. They didn't give me his real name or his picture; it would have been too risky, in case I was compromised. When I saw him, my heart stopped at first. I immediately recognised him though he didn't me. He introduced himself with his Russian name, as per protocol.

Sydney had gone rigid at the mention of KGB and Bill Vaughn in the same sentence, but didn't dare interrupt from fear her mother would never pick up the story again.

"'Adrian Mikailovich'. All those years I had wondered about him, where he was, what he had become. I looked for him after the academy, but I couldn't find him. I was told he was in a long-term undercover assignment abroad. I let it go and subsequently, went to America. Little did I know he was living in Los Angeles too, with the same job I had. To become a good American citizen and to get information from the CIA. It's ironical I guess. That night, in the warehouse, all that rage I had bottled up for years rushed back to me. I destroyed him and I 'loved' every minute of it."

Sydney's hold on Irina only tightened as she counted her tale. She knew Irina needed the support, and she did too, in a way. After a minute of silence, she felt she had to say something, to let her mother know she was still with her. "That's why he had marks of torture…you didn't want information from him, you wanted revenge, for something he had done before you came to America," she whispered, suddenly understanding why Bill Vaughn's body was not identifiable.

"Yes. There was nothing recognizable left of him when I was done. It served my purpose. The CIA thought him dead and the KGB thought I had done my job of faking his death. When he didn't show up in Moscow, as he should have, they assumed he had fled and tagged him as a traitor. They never found him and never suspected I had killed him for real."

Sydney nodded pensively, coming back on every point of the story. Irina had left out something. A reason. She voiced her thoughts as delicately as she could, trying to keep the curiosity out of her voice. "You still haven't told me why you did what you did. Why you hated him so much. Do you want to?" She asked eventually, resting her head against her mother.

"I'm not ready for that, but I don't think I'll ever be. We might as well get it over with now, while the wound is still bleeding. I know you and I won't get any sleep until it's out."

Sydney chuckled, "yeah, I'm kind of obsessive about stuff I don't understand."

"I know, who do you think you get it from?" Irina extricated herself from Sydney's embrace and smiled at her reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere. Not without you, don't worry. Come." She took her hand and led her outside, on the beach. She missed Sydney's warmth and strength but being cuddled by her daughter while she recounted this painful part of her story was not an option. She felt it would somehow taint their affection toward each other.

What she was about to reveal to her daughter was a major event in her life, though one she'd gladly forget, which she had managed to do, for years, until he reappeared in that warehouse. It was something that shaped her, something that made her who she was now.

She sat down in the sand and Sydney imitated her. They stared at the sea and said nothing for a few minutes.

"I was very proud to have been chosen to serve my country," started Irina with a strong voice. "As a woman, I had to work twice as hard to be recognised as a good agent, but it was my choice. I ended up being the top of my class at the Academy. The instructors would taunt my fellow comrades endlessly, because they were beneath me. A woman topping men did not bode well with the male students. Some of them were very radical about the role of women within the KGB. Adrian was one of them."

Irina stopped, mouth half open. There was time to still back out. However, there would always be this half-opened Pandora box between her and Sydney, and she didn't want that.

"One night, along with two of his friends, he decided to give me a lesson. To show me my place, to teach me what a woman should do, what she was for."

Sydney had a bad feeling she knew where this was going but wouldn't let her mother stop. She ground her teeth and kept listening. Her mother seemed lost in her thoughts, in her memories, and that's what was making her talk because she was too far gone to raise her walls. Sydney was not about to bring her back to reality by offering support. It would ruin everything and Irina would withdraw her story.

Sydney had noticed that Irina's Russian accent thickened when she was under stress. Her mother started talking again, bluntly. "They raped me that night. The three of them."

Sydney didn't know what to say, rocked to the core by the words she was half expecting, half dreading. She thought her mother was done but she wasn't.

"They sneaked into my room at the dawn of night. I heard them but…one of them covered my mouth before I could scream. They took turns. Two would hold me while the third would…force himself into me." She sighed. The hardest part was out of the way. She sighed and resumed her tale, more lightly. "I killed Adrian's friends shortly after, while still at the academy. The whole section was out for an exercise in the mountains. It was easy. There was snow and ravines. I made the bodies disappear. The instructors assumed they had fallen over a cliff and killed themselves. They were my first murders."

Sydney couldn't hold it any longer. "Mom…"

However, Irina couldn't stop, or else she'd never speak of it again. She went on as if Sydney hadn't interrupted her. "They took me by surprise, cowards that they were. I made sure each one saw me coming. They were so arrogant that they didn't bother to hide. My only regret is that I didn't get to make them suffer, but I caught up on that with Adrian. The bastard deserved it, as I understood it was his idea to rape me in the first place. The other two were not man enough to come up with something so vicious."

Sydney felt sick to her stomach but didn't speak.

"I think my enjoying staring at people in the face while I shoot them or slit their throats comes from then," she said pensively. "I didn't have enough time to go after Adrian before the exercise was over. I kept him last on purpose anyway, for the reasons I told you."

Sydney was surprised at the use of 'you', she thought Irina was lost in her thoughts and not aware she was talking to her daughter, but she wasn't.

"That evening, when we went back to the dormitory, his bed was empty, his belongings were gone. His father was a General in the Army. I assumed he made it possible for Adrian to be transferred to another section, in another city. Adrian must have known why his friends hadn't returned and he ran away from me. I more or less forgot about him, until he came to me in that warehouse by the pier, and dared slap me on the shoulder like an old buddy of his and kiss me on the cheek like it is proper to salute a fellow Comrade."

Long minutes of silence went by before Sydney, processing all she had heard, managed to speak without showing too much pity, or disgust. She knew her mother didn't want to be cuddled. Sydney had asked a question, she had asked for the truth, and Irina had given it to her. They would never ever speak of this again. But for now, something bothered her, a minor detail, but still, she wanted to clarify it. After everything she had been told, this was nothing Irina, or she, couldn't handle.

"Mom…when you said he took something from you…did you mean…"

"Yes. He was the first. The first among his friends and the first for me. That made your father the fourth." Getting up, she started to walk away, without offering to help Sydney up. "We should go; lunch must be ready by now."

Even though she admired her mother for being able to compartmentalise to such a degree, Sydney found it highly unhealthy in this case. But Irina seemed to live just fine with the way she handled herself and it was not Sydney's place to comment on it. She had her answer and she had reached a decision concerning Vaughn. Her mother's issue concerning Bill Vaughn, or rather Adrian Mikailovich was closed and life could go on as usual.

At noon, Sydney and Irina left the study after an extensive conversation about how to proceed from here. They met Doctor Varnina on the patio and told her 'the bad news'. That she would have to stay here with Tanya and go over the files she and Irina had recovered. She was not pleased with the news but didn't have much choice. And she was relieved the women didn't seem to want to take away her daughter. She arranged for her son, Rafael, to stay with the nanny until his mother and sister's return.

In the next few days, Amelia poured through hundreds of pages of blunt data and observations. She took notes and made a daily report of her meagre findings to Irina in person. By the end of the week, she had compiled a list of Frankel's collaborators and, more importantly, had discovered what all his work led to…a formula. The problem was, she did not recognise it.

The next Sunday, she met with the women whom she knew as Nina and Natalia. "I think I may have found something. Since the beginning, Thomas has been working on the creation of a substance, which I believe would counteract the effect of the contaminated water. He altered it time and time again but never quite got the results he expected. He was on to something though."

"That's wonderful news!" Said Sydney, looking over at her mother.

"Let's not get our hopes up," said Irina sternly, "what exactly is it that you found, Doctor? Can we use it?"

Amelia sighed, hating to be he bearer of bad news. "I'm afraid not. I have no idea what composes this formula, I don't recognise its components. And even if I could produce a substance out of it, there is no telling what the effects would be. Thomas tested dozens of alternatives before coming up with this last formula. There is no telling if he got it right, least of all its effects."

Sydney shook her head, on the verge of tears. Frankel's files and Varnina's expertise were their last hope and it didn't pan out.

Irina intervened. "Vaccines are often made out of the very string of bacteria they are supposed to eliminate, did you compare that formula to the papers I gave you?"

"I did, and it looks nothing alike. I'm sorry Mrs. Derevko, I looked over everything you gave me, I ran every test possible, twice. There is no cure."

"It can't be!" Raged Sydney, getting up as she slammed her fist on the table in anger.

Doctor Varnina looked as pained as she was but didn't offer any comfort. Irina did. "We'll keep looking sweetheart, I won't give up on your sister so easily."

"It's useless! This was our best lead!" She said, brandishing the sheet of paper on which was written the formula Doctor Varnina had dug up from Frankel's notes. She looked at it, disgusted, and as she glanced at the letters and numbers that composed the molecule, realisation hit her. She gasped and let herself fall down into her chair, stunned.

"Sydney?" Asked Irina, prudence forgotten as she stepped forward worried.

"I know what it is," she whispered, eyes glued to the black line.

"You do?" Asked Irina, skeptical.

Sydney gulped, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, of what that meant. "We have to break into the DSR," she declared, fixing Irina with a steely gaze.

TBC


	12. Chapter 11: Double Derevko trouble 1

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

_Sydney gulped, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, of what that meant. "We have to break into the DSR," she declared, fixing Irina with a steely gaze.__  
_

**Chapter 11: Double Derevko trouble (1/2)****  
**  
"You may go," Irina told Doctor Varnina before leading Sydney to her office where they could talk in private. She closed the door behind them and immediately started. "Sydney, what is going on?"

"As you know, I'm now Co-Director of APO. The title comes with a raise and a number of restrictions, but more importantly, with a level 8 Security Clearance. Being in black ops, I can snoop around without too many people asking questions. The DSR was never big on sharing with the CIA when I was an agent there. I've been monitoring their activities and I discovered that they've been hiding things from the other agencies, including the CIA, probably on orders from the NSC."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Irina, not used to being in the dark.

"Are you up to date on what has been going on during your absence?"

Irina sighed. "I've lost many contacts over the last year. Yelena got to them; they died, or retired. I've been having trouble establishing new relations and my mind has been busy with everything that happened."

Sydney nodded pensively, weighing how much she should tell or not tell to her mother. "Ever heard of Project Black Hole?" Irina gave her a blank look. "It's the name of a DSR facility in the Nevada desert. They deal with everything Rambaldi related."

"And you trust me with this information?" She tilted her head, studying her daughter more closely.

"Yes. Because I trust you. Like me, you have Nadia's best interests at heart. We're partners Mom. Partners that don't trust each other fail at best, or end up dead."

Irina nodded solemnly, feeling proud of her daughter. "Tell me about that Project Black Hole."

"It's impenetrable, only the higher ups know about it. I learned of it from Dixon a while back. They have the latest technology, the best people…you get the idea."

"What's your point?"

"The DSR uses this place to store every Rambaldi piece of work American agencies ever recovered. Some I know about, some I don't."

"You think they have something that could help Nadia," realised Irina.

"Not exactly. Like I said, I don't have access to this place, but I broke in a while back. What I saw there made me want to dig further. Project Black Hole is only the tip of the iceberg. They don't just store stuff there; they study them, try to reproduce them, to use them in experiments…I know for a fact that they've been trying to find medical and military applications for years to every single piece they own. For them, Rambaldi is not just about old prophecies and visions as we thought. Project Black Hole is much bigger. It's been in place for years, studying everything that Man couldn't explain. There are more Nevada-type facilities all over the US. There's more to it than what the NSC is letting on."

"But Rambaldi meant for the cleansing to happen. He wouldn't have created a cure for the illness," reminded Irina.

"He didn't, but the DSR did."

Irina sat down on a chair facing her desk. Sydney imitated her. "Go on."

"One month after I was promoted as Co Director, the DSR requested a batch of Cobalt-60 APO seized during a mission. I was the one to sign the paperwork for the transfer. APO is supposed to be a black ops division of the CIA, responding only to the highest people in American Intelligence. We're supposed to hand over whatever we get our hands on to certain people. Neither the NSC nor the DSR are supposed to know about us, least of all to ask anything of us. It's just not the proper protocol. I was told to comply and not ask questions."

"This is strange, indeed, but I don't see what it has to do with Nadia…"

"Let me finish, Mom! I followed up on it and it was just too weird. Radioactive cobalt should not be passed around like this. I've only started to get some answers from contacts because the DSR is keeping this close to the vest. I had Marshall put a tracker on the case containing the Cobalt. He traced it to a low security NSC facility in San Diego."

"That doesn't make any sense. The US government would not be careless enough as to store any radioactive substance in a low security facility." Irina was puzzled.

"My point exactly. Something was seriously wrong there so I did some more digging. This place is mainly occupied by DSR personnel, scientists, engineers…you get the picture. The Cobalt-60 was requested to be used in a project called 'estirpazione'."

"Eradication? Why give it an Italian name? And what does it have to do with a cure?"

"Because it's connected to Rambaldi. That's what Varnina showed us."

"Impossible, Sydney. I'm an expert, I would have recognised it," argued Irina, frustrated at being given the answer piece by piece.

"You know about Rambaldi's green fluid, right?"

"Yes. Injected into the Passenger, Nadia, it allows her to channel Rambaldi." Irina's thoughts wandered to her youngest daughter, and how scared and confused she must have been were the man she believed to be her father had subjected her to the fluid, thus directly exposing her to Rambaldi's madness.

"That's what the formula Frankel was working on reminded me of. It was a synthetic replica of the genuine fluid. He created a synthetic Rambaldi fluid. He somehow knew the cure was linked to the fluid, maybe he heard Elena mention it, I don't know. The point is, he tried to recreate it to use it somehow and failed. But the DSR had the real thing and I believe they succeeded."

"Succeeded in what?" Asked Irina, near exasperation.

"You were right, Rambaldi did not plan on curing the infected. He died in 1499; Cobalt was discovered in 1735. There is no way he could have known that his green fluid combined with Cobalt-60 would create a cure for the plague he would later unleash."

"Cobalt-60 is used in radiotherapy, Sydney. It treats cancer. How can it help Nadia?"

"I know this sounds crazy, but if you think about it, it makes sense. The DSR exposed a batch of the Rambaldi fluid to the gamma radiation of the Cobalt-60 APO gave them. It apparently resulted in the fluid becoming an actual cure to the disease."

"Are you sure it is effective?" Asked Irina in disbelief.

Sydney shrugged. "It's never been tested on a human being but under a microscope, it does 'eradicate' the waste particles like it would eat cancer cells."

"This is incredible! How could the DSR hide this?" Irina asked in wonder.

"I don't know." Sydney shook her head, disgusted. "I guess they had some obscure reasons of their own."

"What do we do now?"

"We go get that cure from them."

"What do you have in mind?" Sydney already had a plan from which she would not deviate. Her resolved tone spoke volumes.

"I have an idea that might be just crazy enough to work."

Irina quirked an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Obviously, I can't just go in and take whatever I want. It's too risky to break in. But, being a Director of APO, and the base being a low security facility, I can get in through the front door under a false pretence and then, once inside, make my way to wherever it is they keep that cure."

"And how do you plan on not getting arrested?"

"That's where the crazy part of my plan comes in. 'I' am going to be stealing the substance while 'I' will be at work."

"You're not making any sense, sweetheart."

Sydney smirked. "You've missed quite a lot, Mom." She winced as Irina's eyes darkened. "Sorry, didn't mean to…sorry. Lauren Reed walked in the LA field office after she was officially put on a shoot to kill list for treason. She bombed it, killed an agent, injured more than a dozen others."

"My God!" Exclaimed Irina, surprised. "Were you…"

"No, I wasn't there. Not exactly. I was visiting Nadia in a safe house…Lauren got past security by pretending to be me. She got her hands on my prints, my DNA…everything that allowed me to get into the core of our division. Thankfully, the CIA figured out it wasn't I, but the damage was already done. Later I made myself pass as Lauren to Sark. He bought it. If someone can pass as me and get in the NSC while I'm, say, at APO with a dozen agents for witnesses, I'll be free before the end of the day."

"That's ingenuous. But is it not too big of a risk?"

"Trust me. It's the only way and if we play our cards right, there won't be any problem."  
Irina thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. I'll arrange for a meeting with a technician I hired for several other jobs. I'm sure he'll have the connections to deal with all the aspects of the…'costume'. We'll also have to find someone matching your description, with enough experience to walk into a government facility without panicking."

"No. 'You' will have to pass as me. You know me. Kind of. We are the same height and weight, same eyes. It will be easier than to hire an outsider. And you're bold enough to pull it off without breaking a sweat."

"That makes sense," agreed Irina, pleased that Sydney was cognizant of her skills.

"One more thing. I can't provide you with the necessary samples. It needs to be done so that it can't be traced back to me. Marshall is a genius, he would figure it out in minutes, and I'd be busted. I can't ask him to lie for me, not even for Nadia, I won't put him in that position."

"So I need to take your prints, blood and DNA from other sources, without your knowledge."

"Yes. It's the only way whoever is assigned the investigation will leave me alone. There can't be the slightest bit of suspicion of me or I'm finished. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"I will, don't worry, your reputation is safe with me," Irina promised.

"Glad to hear it."

"I'll arrange for everything. You go back to Los Angeles, go back to work, to your routine, and we can be ready within a week."

"Good. Thank you, Mom. It's good to have you on the team."

"The team?"

"The good guys, me, you know, working together. It feels great." Sydney grinned at her

"It certainly does, sweetheart."

TBC


	13. Chapter 12: Double Derevko trouble 2

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

"_I'll arrange for everything. You go back to Los Angeles, go back to work, to your routine, and we can be ready within a week."__  
_

**Chapter 12: Double Derevko trouble (2/2)****  
**  
Los Angeles, Friday, 8h00.  
Five days later, Irina flew to Los Angeles and met Sydney in the bathroom of a coffee shop her daughter frequented daily. Sydney couldn't afford to deviate from her routine by going to a warehouse or a hotel. She was not being tailed by Chase's men anymore but once word of the break-in was reported, her latest doings and goings would be analysed closely.

"How do I look?" Asked Irina, standing with her back to the faucet, her hands on her hips.

"Like me. You sound like me too. That's creepy." Sydney shook her head, shivering at the thought of how easy it was for her mother to impersonate her. "Wear your hair loose, forget about the high heels, and lose the high chin. I only do that when I'm pissed. Same for the hands on the hips. I tend to cross my arms over my chest when I'm talking to someone for a while, but only if I'm standing."

"Better?" Asked Irina, taking the pose.

"Yes, perfect. Don't talk down to people, even if it's a desk clerk. I don't do that." She looked her mother up and down. She would have to make sure to get rid of the 'costume' herself. God knew what Irina could do with it. "There, you should be okay," she commented, gently pulling her mother's face straighter. "Just don't tilt your head. I don't do that. And try to look…a little friendlier."

Irina rolled her eyes. "I know what I'm doing, Sydney."

"I'm just trying to give you some insight. Keep in mind that you're not Irina Derevko but Sydney Bristow. You're not impersonating an alias; you're impersonating a real person, me. If you fail, you and I will share a cell for the rest of our lives."

"I thought high security prisons didn't allow prisoners to mix."

"They don't. I was just speaking figuratively. Stop playing smartass for a second, that doesn't suit you."

"But it does you. From now on, I'm Sydney Bristow. I'm only playing my part. Don't worry sweetheart, everything will be okay."

"Do you have the car?"

"Yes. Blue Ford Expedition 2005, California plates, license number RCD 468. It has your insurance company sticker and your parking permit for your apartment complex. It's the exact copy of your car. I even scratched the rear passenger door with a rock." She winced. Sydney gave her a puzzled look. "I noticed it at the grocery store, when I came to visit the first time. You probably came too close to a wall."

Sydney shook her head, groaning as she did so. "Damn, I knew I shouldn't have lent my car to Weiss. A brand new car."

Irina laughed, shaking her head as she added 'obsession with cars' to her list of similarities with her daughter, along with love of knives and fine wines. "I also have a CIA badge in your name with your signature, which I know how to imitate."

"Great, just don't go emptying my bank account please."

"What is the purpose of being part of a black ops division if you still carry your CIA badge around?"

"I know, it sounds stupid, but I need it if I want to arrest someone in public and also to justify my carrying a gun. And it's definitively a free pass for high speed driving on the highway." She started fidgeting. Irina gently grabbed her shoulder, rubbing her arms.

"We have everything covered, Sydney. It won't fail, but you have to act as your usual self when you get to your office. Even before, as soon as you get out of this bathroom. The CIA will scrutinize every tape they can get their hands on, that includes those of the cameras in the coffee shop."

"I know, but there's more than our freedom and my career on the line. It's probably Nadia's last chance at being normal again."

"I know, sweetheart, I know."

Los Angeles, Friday, 13h00  
Drumming her fingers on her desk while anxiously checking her computer clock time and time again, Sydney was lost in thought. Seated behind her desk in her office at APO with her half eaten lunch, waiting for the arrest she knew was to come, she was thinking of nothing but him, of Vaughn, of what she would say to him in her next phone call.

A man walked into her office, interrupting her musings. She acted surprised to see him there. Four guards flanked him and two of them grabbed her by the arms before unnecessarily dragging her to an interrogation room, as her whole team watched, bewildered. Weiss was at her apartment, taking care of Nadia, but Dixon was there and tried to stop them. The two remaining guards held him off, stating it was NSC business.

Agent Sommers remained standing, probably to try and intimidate her. She was accused of stealing a substance referred to as RFC-60 from a NSC-ran facility in San Diego. Sydney was ecstatic to learn of her mother's success but obviously hid her excitement. The agent had then proceeded to confront her with hard evidence, namely security footage with audio of every step she allegedly took outside and inside of the aforementioned NSC facility.

"Obviously, I'm innocent of whatever you're accusing me of. I was here, in my office, from 9h00 to now. I'm sure a dozen agents and analysts can confirm that, Agent Sommers," stated Sydney, calmly taking the seat pointed to her. The seat that faced a two-way mirror. The seat of the criminal

He started to describe everything her mother had done. She listened to him intently while keeping an eye on the video playing and recounting her own actions on this Friday morning.

San Diego / Los Angeles, 9h-11h  
_I__Irina left the coffee shop the same way she had came in: through the back door, far away from the eye of the cameras.__/I  
_  
Sydney smiled at the cashier as she left the coffee shop through the glass door, her Styrofoam cup of coffee firmly in hand.

_I__Irina drove down to San Diego on the Interstate 5 in less than the 1h45 it was supposed to take.__ /I  
_  
Sydney parked at the Metro Station as she did every morning and made her way to platform 5.

_I__Irina showed her CIA identification to the armed guard that stopped her at the entrance of the NSC facility in San Diego.__/I  
_  
Sydney smiled at the agent in charge of APO's front desk as she passed him. ID tag in sight on her jacket lapel, she crossed the main hall to her office. Five agents greeted her on the way and she smiled back at them. Later, they would testify that she had came in at 9h00 sharp, as she did everyday since she had come back from her vacation.

_I__Irina sat in an uncomfortable grey plastic chair, waiting for an escort.__/I  
_  
Sydney spent her morning signing papers, ranging from requests to the DOD to leave approvals for her agents and orders of purchases for ammunitions, office chairs, and pencils. She was too preoccupied to be able to do much of anything else, though it didn't show.

San Diego, 12h00  
_I__"Hello Agent Bristow," greeted a male voice, prompting Sydney to get up from her seat.___

_"Director Kendall," she replied, slightly taken aback by the man's presence.___

_"You sound surprised to see me."___

_"I am. In a good way." She thought for a moment of what Sydney would say. "You know, compared to Arvin Sloane, you have your charms, as a superior. I often believed you were an ass, but you were never a backstabbing bastard."___

_The bald man laughed frankly. He sometimes missed the 'youngsters' of the Los Angeles field office, but his work as Director of Project Black Hole allowed him to see extraordinary things happen. "When I heard you had put in a request to visit the facility, I had to come and see it for myself. You never showed any interest in experimental technology before. By the way, congratulations on your promotion." ___

_"How do you know about it?"___

_"Well, I was a member of the panel assigned to pick a new Co Director and I think you're fit for the job."___

_She crossed her arms over her chest like Sydney had taught her. She managed not to tilt her head and replied, in a typical Sydney fashion. "Thank you, Kendall. You could say that my being here comes with the new job. This program is going to be the new Echelon. APO was offered to test it in its final phase as I understand, so I thought I'd check it out now, even though it's still in experimental phase."___

_"Understandable. If you'd follow me, I'll take you to the lead engineer."___

_"Thank you." She followed him through a corridor to the elevator. It stopped on sublevel 3. He stopped in front of a white door and she elbowed him in the temple before he could make use of his security card. Using it, she half dragged, half carried him to an unoccupied office. Not wasting any time, she ran to the stairs that would lead her two more levels down. Her window of opportunity was closing. At any moment, the guard's screens could switch to the precise hallway were she was. She had to remain undetected until she was out of the facility's parking lot ___

_Irina swept the card she had 'borrowed' from Kendall in the slot on the door and it opened with a soft wheeze. She quickly located the green substance. It was stored in a small tubes made of glass and metal, as she had expected. She took them all and slipped them in her make up case. To the security guard monitoring the X-ray machine at the exit, it would look as if her bag was containing lipstick tubes.__/I_

Los Angeles, 12h00  
Sydney sighed in annoyance. After she left her mother in Honolulu to prepare for their upcoming mission, she went back to her apartment in Los Angeles. Ignoring the mail, she had walked to her phone and feverishly dialed Vaughn's home number, which she knew by heart. She didn't know what to tell him exactly and was thankful he wasn't home and that his answering machine picked up in his stead. She remembered stumbling over words, babbling to no end…

"Hi, it's me…you're probably out walking Donovan…or grocery shopping or…well, you're not there anyway. I was just calling to say that…I want you to stop calling here and on my cell…I want you to stop leaving me messaged." She had sighed there, and had remained silent for a few seconds. "I'll call you when I'm ready. I promise I will."

San Diego, 12h30  
IIrina went through the security check at the exit without any problem. She explained her escort's absence by saying he had been called away for an emergency and left her off at the elevator. The guards bought it and one of them even held the door open for her. A dog briefly sniffed her car at the exit checkpoint but didn't find anything and his master motioned for his colleague to let her through.

A few minutes later, she was back on the road, driving in the direction of San Diego's International Airport where a private Jet rented under an assumed name was waiting to take her back to Honolulu.

She had carried out her side of the mission.

But had Sydney gotten out okay/I

Honolulu, 17h00  
Irina was back at her home. She had given the three tubes of solution she had stolen to Doctor Varnina who was currently analysing them.

Irina was sitting behind her desk, watching her computer screen like a hawk. She had sent an email to Sydney a few minutes ago confirming her success. Now, she was waiting anxiously for her daughter to reply and let her know she was safe and sound at home. Irina was confident Sydney would get out of the investigator's clutches without a problem, but she would wait for her to answer her email before relaxing.

Her men had had done an outstanding job at harvesting samples of Sydney's blood and saliva, as well as getting her prints and retinal scan. She had made sure of that. The 'costume' had to be flawless for her to get in and out of the DSR facility without a hitch.

The DSR so called 'low security facility' still required one to pass several identification tests, but once you were in, it was easy to wander around without being disturbed. There were no patrols, no constant surveillance of every room and hallway.

Los Angeles, Friday, 17h00, Interrogation room  
Marshall barged into the room where Sydney had been stuck with an NSC agent of the bureau of special investigations for the last four hours.

"Sir! I figured it out!" Without leaving the man time to protest, he set his laptop on the desk so it was facing both Sydney and Agent Sommers. "Syd, Agent…Director Bristow, you always park your car at Metro Station when you come in to APO, and you always buy a coffee at the Starbuck's on the corner near the entrance to the station. I tracked your movements for the last seven days and here's what I found."

A video file opened, taken by a surveillance camera. It showed Metro Station parking garage, level 3. Sydney was taking a briefcase from her trunk before locking her car and walking away. Minutes later, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt ran his palm pilot over the area Sydney had put her palm on to close the trunk. "See that? He just lifted Director Bristow's hand print," explained Marshall. "It was Monday," he added, pointing to the time code on the top right corner of the screen.

The NSC agent watched without commenting but he looked angry. The same man wearing the same hooded sweatshirt was seen picking up Sydney's coffee cup from the trashcan she had just dumped it in. "Here he got her saliva."

"I noticed, Mr. Flinkman," dryly replied Sommers, irritated.

"He only needs a tiny drop of her DNA to pass the analysis at the NSC facility."

"I read the San Diego security specs too Mr Flinkman. But that doesn't explain how anybody could have access to Ms. Bristow's retina or her blood," he added, referring to the fact that not content to control visitor's prints and DNA, the NSC security system also required a live retinal scan and a blood sample, taken from a subject's finger at random.

"Easy. Like many good American citizens, Sydney gives blood every month to a Red Cross centre, three blocks away from her apartment."

"That's true," confirmed Sydney. "Last time I've been there was…three days ago. Tuesday."

"The NSC facility requires a live sample," snarled the interrogator, smiling in triumph as he found the flaw in Marshall's explanation.

"True, but nowadays, you can keep people alive by cryogenics. Keeping a few millilitres of blood hot is a piece of cake. You just have to hook it up to live current. I guess whoever did this slipped a few drops of blood in each of the silicon fingerprints they applied on their hands. Et voilà."

"That doesn't explain how this mysterious someone got a hold of Ms Bristow's retinal scanner. That's impossible to counterfeit. It has to be live, the blood vessels have to be flowing for it to be accepted by the system"

"You need to get out more, Agent Sommers. We're in the intelligence gathering business, nothing is impossible," started Sydney, rolling her eyes. "I've done it countless times on missions. It's probably the easiest thing to do among all of it. Lenses are used as video cameras, to lift a subject's retinal scan. It also can be used as screens to reflect the eyes' movement as if it was the real deal. The iris, pupil and vessels activity show in them as if it was a real eye. It could have been taken at anytime, by a cashier at the supermarket, a passenger in the metro…a few seconds is all it usually takes me to lift someone's retina movements."

"Can you prove it?" Challenged the agent, already feeling he had lost, but hanging to a thread.

"Of course, but you don't want me to humiliate you any further, do you? Just go to your superiors and tell them that, as you already suspected, someone managed to get their hands on everything they needed to pass as me and get into the NSC facility, and that you need to up your security measures in all and every building you manage. If we're done here, I have work to do, and a top secret substance to find, as this case was assigned to my division."

"You're free to go, but I'll keep an eye on you, Ms Bristow."

"I've just been reinstated. It's Director Bristow, Agent Sommers, and you're no longer welcome here. I'll have an agent escort you out." Sydney left with Marshall in toe. "Thank you Marshall, for figuring it out so quickly."

"Anytime Syd…And don't thank me, it's my job, and I really didn't want to visit you in jail. Plus, it was fun to shut that jerk up."

Sydney smiled and went to her office, feeling Somers's eyes burning a hole in her back. He came to APO thinking he was going to bust the Director and make his career on her arrest. Instead, he was being thrown out and all the evidence he had proved the suspect's innocence, and they were handed to him by some whiz kid. He could kiss his promotion goodbye. 

Los Angeles, Friday, 19h00  
Sydney greeted Weiss and Nadia when she finally got home, two hours later. She had taken the time to go grocery shopping, as she always did on Friday after work. She was being tailed again but she could live with it for a few days.

She excused herself and went to her bedroom under the pretext to change clothes, which she did. She then proceeded to take the untraceable laptop her mother had given her and connected herself to the email address Irina had set up for her for their covert communications.

Sydney smiled as she read her mother's message, so cryptic, and yet so telling. 'I'm okay, how are you?". Apparently, Irina wasn't inclined to take any chance with the CIA, even though Marshall himself was not supposed to be able to break the encryption of the email. Sydney sighed and replied in kind. 'I'm doing good, I'm glad to hear from you. Any new book to recommend?'.

She closed the laptop and went to prepare dinner for Weiss, Nadia and herself.

Soon Irina would reply to her request for a 'book recommendation' and give her instructions on how to proceed next.

Soon she would have to deal with Vaughn like the adult she was.

Soon she would not be able to see her mother as much anymore.

Soon her little sister would be herself again.

TBC


	14. Chapter 13: Pregnancy test

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

_Soon Irina would reply to her request for a 'book recommendation' and give her instructions on how to proceed next._

_Soon she would have to deal with Vaughn like the adult she was.__  
_

_Soon her little sister would be herself again._

**Chapter 13: Pregnancy test**

The next day, Saturday, Sydney came home from her morning run to find her daily newspaper waiting on the doormat. Unwrapping it inside her apartment, she noticed the corner of the 'travel section' turned down. The page featured an article about the dangers of taking a trip to Asian countries because of the bird flu. Putting the rest of the newspaper aside, she concentrated on the page, trying to figure out what she was supposed to see.

Email was faster than sending hidden messages but it was less safe. No matter how tight the encryption of her account was if the CIA ever found out about it, they could dig up messages years old. She could be arrested on 'terrorist charges'. Thanks to the Patriot Act, 'terrorist charges' could mean a lot of things and had no limitation in time. Sydney could be arrested simply for sharing mails with her mother, a known terrorist, even if they were merely discussing the advantages of Smirnoff vodka over the Armadale one in mixing cocktails.

Sydney finally figured out what the coded message was. 'Take the week-end away with Nadia'. Her mother wanted her to take Nadia to her home in Honolulu.

She immediately started packing her suitcase and then went to the guest bedroom, still occupied by Weiss. He had more or less moved in on a permanent basis a few weeks ago, so that someone would be in the apartment 24/7 for Nadia. Taking her sister from one apartment to another during Sydney's repeated absences for work, shopping, or the few trips she took was not an option. Her apartment had been child proofed and Weiss's was not. Plus, the young woman tended to panic easily when in unfamiliar surroundings.

Sydney feared Nadia might get hurt. She did not mind the company Weiss offered. Throughout university and until her disappearance she always lived with a roommate. Then, there had been the constant presence of Weiss and then Vaughn had moved in. Sydney couldn't bear the idea of being alone. Weiss was happy with the arrangements as well. The fridge was always full; he didn't have to clean up. Sydney took care of his laundry and he was closer to Nadia. Sometimes he liked to spend the night in his own space and give Sydney some air, but he spent most nights at her apartment.

"Weiss, wake up!"

"What? What's going on?"

"I just wanted to let you know Nadia and I are leaving now. We're going away for the weekend."

"What? When did you decide that?" He asked, surprised at her sudden decision.

"I've been thinking about it for a while actually, you know, get away from the city, just the two of us."

"Oh. Okay, that's nice, great idea I think." He didn't ask any more questions. Sydney suspected he knew she was up to something, had for a while. Asking him to divert the agents a few weeks ago and her mysterious vacation away from Nadia were dead giveaways something was up. He knew she wouldn't leave her sister for so long if it weren't important. Neither talked about it, they didn't want to confront each other so just…pretended everything was normal.

Next, she woke Nadia and packed a bag for her as well. Within the hour, they were on their way to the airport.

She called Director Chase last, from the car. Her men certainly already reported that their target was on her way to the airport anyway. "Director Chase? Sydney Bristow. I'm calling to inform you that Nadia and I are taking the weekend away from LA. I think it will do Nadia some good to have a change of scenery. Me too."

Chase was not happy about it but Sydney heard whom she assumed to be Dixon say it was a good idea. The woman sighed in the phone but didn't argue further. Hanging up, Sydney smiled wryly, realising Dixon and Chase were together on a Saturday morning. Sleeping with the big boss definitively had its advantages for Sydney.

Eight different airlines offered flights from LAX to HNL but Irina had booked two first class tickets on the 10h30 American Airlines flight. Used to flying, Sydney had packed a bag and a suitcase just small enough to fit as a carry-on, allowing her to avoid a long wait at the baggage claim. Nadia was calm during passage through security but started to get restless in the waiting room. She looked around her with wide eyes. The huge, multi gates room gave passenger a view of the gigantic Boeings and Air Buses taking off and landing on the runaways.

Sydney didn't particularly enjoy flying commercial but it beat the CIA cargo flights, and to top that, she was booked in first class for once. The CIA would have asked questions if she was seen departing in a private jet.

Finally, the call came in over the loudspeaker for passengers to board and people started making their way to the door leading to the ramp of the waiting plane. Sydney held on tight to Nadia's hand, praying her sister wouldn't panic and run the other way.

Both sisters settled in their seats and Sydney buckled their seatbelts. The plane took off some fifteen minutes later. Nadia slept most of the flight and opened her eyes only when she felt the jerk of the wheels touching the ground six hours later.

Walking out of the ramp from the plane with Nadia in toe, Sydney was surprised to see a familiar figure walking toward them.

"Hello, Sydney, Nadia. It's so good to see you!"

"Katya?" Sydney asked, stunned, and not a little worried. She stopped dead in her tracks, looking around with narrowed eyes, wary of anything suspicious. The other passengers made their way to the baggage claim area.

"Darling," she said, ignoring Sydney and stopping in front of Nadia. She carefully took her head between her hands and smiled at her. "Do you remember me?"

Nadia gave her a broad, drowsy smile and Katya smiled sadly before turning to Sydney, opening her arms wide. "What, no hug?" she teased, trying to forget Nadia's lack of answer. She took Sydney's bags from her. "Come on, Irina is waiting for you girls." She put the bags in the trunk and climbed in the driver seat, ignoring her nieces still standing in the same spot.

Eventually, Sydney took Nadia by the arm and they both got into the backseat. Katya waited for them to buckle up before speeding away. Sydney didn't even bother asking why they weren't even stopped for ID control or car check at the exit gates.

Shortly after, they arrived at Irina's house. Sydney was relieved not to be confined to a tiny space with her aunt anymore. She greeted her mother warmly, giving her a long hug, knowing it might be one of the last.

Apparently, Katya had arrived two days earlier to visit her sister. Irina claimed Katya was secretly thrilled to get to see Sydney and Nadia as well.

Nadia kept looking around her as they walked to the living room, taking in the fantastic décor. She wasn't used to such huge spaces and the pool outside grabbed her attention, to Sydney's displeasure.

"Nadia, do you remember Irina?" Asked Sydney, pointing to her mother. Nadia didn't seem to hear her and was getting restless, just standing there. "This is Amelia," she explained next, pointing to the doctor who had just came in. "She's going to help you get better." Nadia seemed completely disinterested but the doctor smiled kindly at the two sisters.

"I just need to take a blood sample from her to make sure it's okay to test the…vaccine on her."

"Okay," started Sydney, licking her lips nervously. "Well, good luck to you because she hates needles."

Amélia hesitated a few seconds. "I guess a single drop of blood would do just fine. I'll just go get my case downstairs."

A minute later, she was back, and handed Sydney a little box. "It's used to take blood samples from diabetic patients. She'll only feel a little prick. If you can just hold it over her index finger and press on it…there you go, perfect," she concluded, taking the box back from Sydney who had done the procedure herself, before her sister could protest.

The doctor went back downstairs to analyse the blood she had just collected. The solution she was given had been exposed to Cobalt-60, a radioactive material. It could not be administered on just anybody because it attacked the body. A weak immune system could cause the patient not to be able to fight back the radiation and therefore cause serious damage.

She redid the test three times, and each time, the same astonishing results came back. She wondered how the two women would take the news, but couldn't hide what she had found out.

All four women were sitting in the living room when she came back upstairs. From what she had gathered, all were related to each other, respectively daughters and sisters.

"I have good news and bad news…"

"Start with the good news," interrupted the woman she had come to know as Sydney, though she had introduced herself as Nina at their first meeting.

"Well, your…sister?" Sydney nodded, confirming Varnina's guess. "Your sister has a very strong immune system, she can take the vaccine without fear of after effects or side effects. That is, beside the expected nausea and possible headaches."

"Good, that's great," Sydney said, taking Nadia's hand in her own, smiling.

"What about the bad news?" Asked Irina, whom Amélia had come to understand better since their rocky meetings in her office.

"Well, Nadia is pregnant."

"Excuse me?" Asked Sydney, stunned.

"Nadia is expecting a baby, she's pregnant, which means we can't administer the vaccine. It would be harmful to the embryo and cause a miscarriage."

"What the hell are you talking about? She's been a vegetable for the past two and a half months! She can't be pregnant!" Argued Sydney, raising her tone.

"Well, she is. I redid the tests three times and I'm positive about the results."

There was a heavy silence for a few minutes, even Nadia had ceased to hum, feeling something important was happening.

"Nadia's been under my surveillance 24/7, there's no way she could have gotten pregnant! And it couldn't have been from before Sovogda, because she took hundreds of tests, and it would have showed up on the results.

"She didn't get pregnant by immaculate conception," scowled Katya.

"I know that!" Snapped Sydney, raking her brain for an explanation, viewing in her head every time she had been in contact with Nadia, trying to see if something had changed suddenly in her behaviour. She came up with nothing.

Irina got to her feet. "Maybe your friend Eric got a little closer than he should have."

Her bluntness momentarily threw Sydney off. "What? No…No! God! No way! It's Weiss, Mom! He knows Nadia's not herself, he would never do that to her!"

"He's a man," cut in Katya, also standing up.

Nadia was watching them from her curled position on the sofa, wondering what the hell was going on. The doctor too was watching the exchange, with growing discomfort.

"Sydney, how well do you know this man?" Asked Irina.

"He's my best friend! He was Vaughn's best friend, still is. We've known each other for years. He was there when I first walked in, he was there for me when I came back. Hell, you shot him in Barcelona! He spent weeks in the hospital with a bullet wound in his neck, and still jokes about it…"

"Were you intimate?" Asked Irina, quirking an eyebrow.

"What! No! What the hell is wrong with you? Where do you get off asking questions like that! Weiss is like a brother to me! We got drunk dozens of times together, and he never, ever tried to make a move on me, no matter how wasted we were. He's a sweet, caring man. He's in love with Nadia!"

"You are not even willing to consider…"

"No!"

"Sydney, think about it, Agent Weiss was alone with Nadia countless times, days at a time. He has seen her naked, bathed her, dressed her…he did everything you did in your absence," argued Irina, appealing to Sydney's logical side.

"He's a good guy!" Insisted Sydney, gesturing with her hands.

"Sydney? Can you at least get him to come here so we can talk to him?" Irina stepped closer to her daughter, moving her hand up and down Sydney's shoulder.

Sydney jerked back. "No! He didn't do anything! You're insane if you're thinking that!"

"Then I'll have someone pick him up and bring him here, but I can't guarantee he won't get hurt," snapped Irina, her cell phone already in hand.

"No! Stop! I'll call him! God I can't believe you," she seethed, glaring at her mother.

"Sweetheart, you may trust him, but I don't. Nadia is your sister, but she's also my daughter. You must understand why I want to hear Mr. Weiss say it to me…so I can be sure, for my peace of mind…"

"Yeah…okay, okay, I'll call him, tell him to meet me at the airport," she agreed, defeated, and suddenly filled with dread. With doubts.

The next morning at six, Sydney was awakened by her ringing cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Syd? Hi it's me, I'm at the airport."

"Weiss? What airport? Honolulu?"

"Yeah, you said it was about Nadia, so I took the first flight I could find."

"Oh…I'll send someone to get you, okay?"

"Okay, see you soon."

Sydney got up to find her mother already up and making breakfast. Irina sent two of her men to drive Weiss from the airport.

Weiss walked hesitantly inside the house, feeling incredibly uneasy. Some strange guys dressed in costumes had come to pick him up from the airport. They hadn't said a word to him and just pointed him to the house. He glanced behind him every now and then to make sure no one was sneaking up to kill him. Finally, he found the kitchen, where he could hear voices.

There she was, Nadia, wolfing down blueberry pancakes. He smiled. She was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. Next to her was Sydney, he gave her a tired, but sincere smile. "Hey girls!" He greeted the two sisters. He frowned as Sydney merely glanced at him. Something was wrong.

Sydney froze.

Weiss looked to the other side of the table as he entered the kitchen. Irina and Katya Derevko both stared back at him.

He opened his mouth a few times and finally managed to croak out a few words, his nervousness obvious as he took a few steps back. He couldn't help but scratch the scar on his neck. "Wow Syd, why didn't you tell me it was a family reunion? I would have brought a bulletproof vest and my bazooka and…okay what's going on here? Is Nadia okay?" He looked at the girl, but couldn't see anything wrong with her.

Sydney rubbed her face wearily, knowing it was her place to tell, ask Weiss.

"Syd? Answer me!" He asked again, frantic.

"Nadia's fine, Weiss," she whispered, getting up from the stool. "Come here." She led him to the living room, out of earshot. She was uncomfortable enough without having to face her mother and aunt. "Weiss, I need to ask you something, and I need you to answer me truthfully."

"Syd, what are you talking about? You're starting to creep me out!"

"Did you have sex with Nadia?"

TBC


	15. Chapter 14: Decision time

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

**WARNING:** Allusion to disturbing stuff.

"_Well, Nadia is pregnant."_

"_Weiss, did you have sex with Nadia?"_

**Chapter 14: Decision time**

Saying Weiss was surprised was an understatement. He certainly wasn't expecting 'that' question. He shook his head, dumbfounded. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, we never went past…groping." He blushed like a teenager but it did nothing to quell the look of anger he bore.

Sydney sighed in relief. "Okay…"

"God, I feel like I'm back in high school. And why do you ask? Didn't you two use to tell each other everything?"

Sydney's breath caught in her throat. He had misunderstood her. "No, Weiss, I meant…recently."

"Recently?"

"Weiss, did you have sex with my sister since she got out of the hospital?" She asked voice significantly louder and strained.

"Oh my God…I cannot believe you just said that…" Eyes wide, he put his hands on the sides of his head, shaking it.

"So you didn't…" persisted Sydney, needing to hear it.

"No! God, no! What do you take me for, a pervert?" He was shouting now. "She can't even decide for herself what she wants for breakfast! It would be like having sex with an unconscious girl! It's called rape, Sydney!" The last part came out as a shriek. "God, how can you even 'think' that? About me?" He backed away, his hurt obvious.

She flinched at the look of disgust and betrayal he gave her. She didn't blame him for it though. "Weiss I'm sorry…"

"Don't…just don't…" He turned around, frantically looking for an exit. He looked like he was about to pass out, his face alternatively red and white.

"Weiss…" she tried to grab his arm, he jerked away as if burnt.

"Fck you, Syd," he said quietly. He violently pushed open the French doors and stepped outside, finally breathing in some fresh air.

Sydney stayed behind, crying for the friendship she had just ruined.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. He'll come around." Her mother was standing behind her, though she didn't dare to try to cuddle her. Sydney was thankful. She might just have hurt her. It was all Irina's fault. She had forced Sydney to call Weiss. The worst was she too had doubted Weiss. Talk about a messed up situation.

A few hours later, Weiss came back inside and went in search of Sydney. He was still angry with her, but he wanted some answers. The expletives he had in mind for his so-called best friend could wait until later.

Sydney jumped to her feet as soon as she saw him walking over. "Weiss, I'm so sorry, I just needed to be sure…"

"Sure? You needed to be 'sure'? Where the hell did that come from anyway?" He tried to keep his anger in check, but failed. He didn't care.

Sydney shook her head, trying to concentrate on Weiss and not on the fact that he had denied having sexual relationship with Nadia, which meant someone else had. Sydney would have hated him and probably hurt him pretty badly but at least…it would have been Weiss, not some stranger…

"Syd, why would you suddenly ask me if I had sex with Nadia?" Weiss asked, voice shaking with emotion. "Answer me! Did Nadia say something?"

"She's…she's pregnant Weiss." She lowered her eyes, unable to bear the look of horror that crossed his face.

"What…oh God!" He wailed, plopping down on the couch. Again, there was a pause. He was doing the same thing she had. Reviewing every time he was with Nadia, trying to figure out 'when', 'who', to see a change in her behaviour. In the end, like her, he didn't have a clue. "How could this happen?"

"I don't know. I never left her alone with anyone but you."

"And I never let her out of my sight, I checked on her every thirty minutes when she was asleep. No one ever came in, no cable guy, no plumber, no neighbour, no buddies…I swear I would have never let anything happen to her…" he went on, tears in his eyes. This was all so frustrating to him.

"Weiss, I know. Its okay, we did nothing wrong. There's just no way it could have happened after she moved in with me," started Sydney, finding some of her confidence back.

"Do you even know…when it happened? I mean, there's got to be a way to date…babies, right?"

"Yes," replied Doctor Varnina, who had stepped in the room undetected with Katya and Irina. Sydney and Weiss turned around, startled. The three women probably heard the whole conversation. The doctor looked at Sydney. "When did you notice your sister wasn't having her periods anymore?"

Sydney looked away, a little embarrassed as she checked in her head. "She never had them…Oh God!" She shook her head, furious at her stupidity. "I assumed it was the drugs…" She put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming out in rage.

"I reviewed your sister's medical files. While certain drugs can cause nausea, rashes and the likes, it can disturb a woman's cycle but it cannot stop it."

"So what does that mean? That she was pregnant 'before' being contaminated?" Asked Sydney, frowning. Nadia had been with no one else but Weiss and she believed him about the two of them not getting past 'groping'. The term was so adolescent, so Weiss-like that he couldn't be lying.

"No, impossible. The solution she was exposed to would have terminated the pregnancy. She would have miscarried within days. How much time passed between her exposure and the moment you brought her to your home?"

"She spent about four weeks in the hospital. She was in an induced coma for the first one, recovering from a bullet wound. The next three weeks were spent…with exams, drugs…she's been living with me for six weeks now. You're saying it happened there, at the hospital?"

"It makes sense," commented Katya.

"It's a CIA ran hospital." Protested Sydney.

"Doesn't mean anything. Believe me, agents, US Marshals and all the others are no different than regular people, Sydney," explained Irina, remembering her experience in CIA custody.

Sydney sighed, exasperated. "That's not possible! I came everyday, I saw her, I saw what they did, the tests and all…and I left her there!" She burst in tears, recognising that what the doctor was suggesting was the only logical explanation. "I left her there, Mom!" Irina wrapped her arms around her. "How could I have not seen something? God, I'm a horrible sister! How could I leave her there for a whole month?" She shrieked, her mind going in overload.

Katya, Weiss and Amélia left mother and daughter alone and joined Nadia who was still in the kitchen, apparently lost in thoughts and not at all bothered by the drama going on in the next room.

Irina was intent on not letting Sydney scourge herself. "Stop it! Sweetheart, you're overreacting; we're not sure of anything yet. Even if someone at the hospital…did something to Nadia, you could not have known!"

"It doesn't matter! I was responsible for her! She was in the hospital because of me in the first place! She's my sister, my 'little' sister; I'm supposed to watch over her, to protect her! I didn't, I failed her!"

"You did not, Sydney. You did no such thing. And now we, you, Katya, Agent Weiss, and I are going to figure out exactly what happened to Nadia and who is responsible, and we'll make them pay. Do you understand?"

Sydney nodded slowly, regaining control over her emotion. "Yeah."

They moved to the kitchen to find Weiss staring at Nadia with a pained expression on his face.

Sydney got closer to him. "Eric?" He turned to her sharply, his shoulders slumping under her assessing guess. "Eric, I meant it earlier, I'm sorry for what I said…"

"Don't be. It's okay. Boy plus girl alone…you had the right to ask. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"No I didn't. I knew it wasn't possible but…"

"I was thinking, your Mom was the chick you were trying to smuggle into your apartment the other day, right?" He wanted to stop talking about Nadia and what had happened to her. It made him sick.

"Yeah. Thanks for the help. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you what I was doing. I didn't want to get you in trouble."

"You know I had my suspicions you wouldn't just sit back and watch Nadia roam around the apartment like a zombie. I knew you wouldn't let her down."

Sydney smiled tiredly, thinking of her earlier conversation with her mother about letting Nadia down. She wished she had had the same faith in Weiss. The look on his face when he had realised what she was asking…a look of profound pain, anger, betrayal.

"So what did you find?"

"A vaccine. At least we think so. We were about to test it on Nadia when…Amélia here discovered Nadia was pregnant and that's why I called you here."

"Oh." There was an uncomfortable silence. "Well can we still do the procedure?"

"Actually," started Amélia, "as I told…your friends here, the vaccine has been irradiated with Cobalt-60. It's mildly toxic to the human body but…if the embryo was exposed to it, Nadia would miscarry."

Weiss nodded solemnly, swallowing audibly. The idea of Nadia carrying a child bothered him greatly. "But why do we care about it?" Four pairs of eyes looked at him strangely. "I mean…she didn't want that child, right?" He added the latest part with more difficulty. "She was raped…"

"We need to find out what happened," interrupted Sydney, voice hollow. "I'll call Marshall." She didn't care about Varnina or her anonymity anymore. All she cared about was Nadia.

One hour later, Sydney's laptop beeped, shattering the heavy silence that had settled over the room after Sydney's phone conversation. Irina, Katya, and Weiss looked at her expectantly. Amélia Varnina was in Tanya's room, playing with her little girl while she still could. The woman would be quite busy with Nadia soon. Sydney checked the screen, and here they were, waiting on her ftp server…video and personnel files that would reveal to her the monster who had impregnated her sister. She swallowed hard, uncomfortable. "I'll be in my room," she whispered, taking the laptop with her.

"Sydney, if you want I can…" interfered Irina.

"No. I don't think Nadia would…you're her mother, you shouldn't have to see that." She shuffled out of the room, clutching the flat item. Nausea was already building up in her throat as she imagined what she was about to see.

She sat stiffly at the desk's chair in her room and transferred the contents of her server to the computer. Marshall had sent the surveillance footage of every room Nadia had been into over the period of a month. It included a padded cell, a private room, and a CAT scan room, used weekly to monitor the progress of the waste particles in her brain. Along with the video files were the whole staff's personal files and the security logs. Each door in the hospital could only be open with a key card. One for each employee, which allowed Sydney to track an individual's movements throughout the facility. The time they entered a room and the time they got out was automatically registered by the computer along with their names.

Scrolling through the columns of hours and dates, she noticed that people had stayed alone with Nadia for abnormally long periods of time on several occasions. She then proceeded to watch the footage from inside Nadia's room at the times she flagged as suspicious.

She saw a doctor with his eyes riveted to the monitors as Nadia was undergoing an experimental treatment and needed to be watched closely. Two nurses changing the sheets, washing Nadia, and cleaning the room on several occasions. The same routine went on almost daily but she checked every file anyway. She also was careful to watch out for eventual tempering with the tape, meaning loop or time code discrepancies. She found none.

Sydney had ruled out her own key card ID number, which unsurprisingly appeared on multiple occasions on the log. Almost daily actually. She remembered herself sitting in the chair by the bed, eyes never leaving Nadia's face as she prayed for her sister to wake up.

All files revealed no suspicious activity, just people doing their job. All but one.

She looked pale when she came back downstairs, some thirty minutes later. She had been struggling to get out of her stupor and join the others for the past ten minutes. Irina immediately handed her a drink, for which she was grateful. She barely noticed every occupant of the room held a glass of strong alcohol of his own. They were waiting for her verdict.

"Doctor Varnina…" she started, voice barely above a whisper. She cleared her throat, starting again. "Doctor Varnina, can Nadia have an abortion without further risks to her health?"

The doctor blinked, uncomfortable. "It's not my area of expertise." Hesitantly, she asked, "how far along is she?"

Sydney's face tensed up. "According to the time code on…the video footage, eight weeks." She sniffled but bit her tongue to keep from bursting into tears. "It happened only one week before I brought her home."

Irina had her in her arms in one instant, knowing her daughter was holding back her emotions. She too was hurting, maybe as badly as Sydney was. It was a mistake to let Sydney watch the video files and track whoever had raped her daughter. She regretted not to have done it herself, to spare her eldest. But she was a coward. When it came to her daughters, she couldn't bear to see them hurt. And now her Sydney had seen her little sister being hurt in a way no one should be. Those pictures in her mind would never leave her. She was being eaten away with guilt and pain. They needed to fix this. "Shhh, it's okay sweetheart, you have nothing to reproach yourself."

"I wanted to prepare the apartment for her and her room…" Sydney mumbled through her tears, remembering shopping for a comforter and items to child proof what she wanted to be 'their' home.

"Sweetheart, I need to know," Irina started softly. She didn't have the courage to ask exactly what she wanted, or rather needed to now. Thankfully, Sydney knew what she wanted to ask and spared her the pain of formulating it into words.

"She was unconscious…I guess that's why the nurses who…took care of her didn't notice anything wrong."

"Because there were no marks to be seen," finished Weiss, looking paler than before. To him, it was a small relief, but it meant Nadia hadn't suffered as much as she would have had she been awake.

"I tracked…the guy's movements with his key card. It happened only once."

"Thank God…" whispered Katya, whom Sydney noticed seemed as distraught as Irina and she was.

"So what do we do now?" Weiss felt numb with grief, and the idea that Nadia was carrying the fruit of that rape made him even sicker than the thought of what had been done to her.

"She can't have that baby." Sydney released her mother to look at her in surprise. "We need to treat her 'now' and her pregnancy is getting in the way," Irina elaborated, jaw set, eyes cold. Her face didn't give anything away the turmoil she felt inside while speaking of killing her first grandchild and depriving her daughter of her firstborn. But someone had to make a decision, for Nadia's sake. It was for the best.

"But how can we decide for her?" Asked Sydney, thrown back by her mother's coldness. "How do we know what she wants?"

"She doesn't want a child from her rapist," spat Weiss, stepping forward angrily. "She probably won't know what happened if…when she wakes up. I don't see why we even bother to discuss it. The solution is pretty obvious to me."

"Doctor?" Asked Irina.

"I'm sorry but as I told you, gynecology it's not my field of expertise."

"I'm asking for your opinion as a doctor. This 'is' your field of expertise."

"The…law isn't precise in cases where the mother is unable to decide for herself. But, in the medical community, the general consensus is to…do what's best for the mother. The child comes second if it threatens the mother's life. To tell you the truth, we can't afford to waste any more time with Nadia. Like you said, she needs to be treated 'now'."

There was an uncomfortable silence, which Irina eventually broke. "I'll call for someone."

TBC


	16. Chapter 15: Guiltless

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

**WARNING:** Disturbing content. This chapter speaks of abortion in a very graphic way, with descriptions of procedures that may disturb some readers.

_"She doesn't want a child from her rapist," spat Weiss, "I don't see why we even bother to discuss it. The solution is pretty obvious to me."_

"_In the medical community, the general consensus is to…do what's best for the mother."_

"_She needs to be treated now."_

"_I'll call for someone."_

**Chapter 15: Guiltless****  
**  
"As Nadia is in her seventh week, I can practice an abortion by aspiration. It's generally completed by curettage, both procedures under anesthesia…" started Dr Geneva, the gynecologist Irina contacted. The petite, grey-haired woman was a local and long time friend of Irina's. She arrived less than thirty minutes after Irina's call, no doubt due to the promise of a handsome payment for her services. Sydney was surprised her mother had lived in this very house on and off for the past ten years. All this time, they were only 6 hours away from each other.

"It's too invasive," interrupted Sydney, shaking her head. It didn't help rid her of the nausea she felt at the visuals invading her brain.

"And an anesthesia is not an option in Nadia's case," added Doctor Varnina. "It would be best if her body was drug free when I inject her with the vaccine," she explained to Sydney and Irina.

Doctor Geneva sighed. "Then I don't know what to tell you, Ms Derevko."

"What about chemical abortion? The RU486?" Asked Sydney.

The gynecologist shook her head. "It's too late. The limit period in the United States is five weeks."

"So what? In England, the RU486 can be prescribed until the seventh week after fecundation. Nadia is into her seventh week and it's not like we're worried about legal issues," Sydney argued.

"You may be right concerning British regulations, but you must understand, the later the RU486 is administered, the less chance of success there is. There are also concerns about the patient's health. Again, the later the RU486 is administered, the more blood the patient will lose, the more pain she will endure. I do not recommend this procedure."

Sydney sighed, rubbing her face, feeling defeated. Irina seemed pensive but didn't offer any comments or words of comfort, for that matter.

"But it's doable? Mom? What do you think?"

"I don't know sweetheart, I don't know."

"You're her mother, you should decide."

"You know her best sweetheart."

"From a medical point of view," started Doctor Varnina, "I read that most women pick the abortive pill over the aspiration. Both procedures have as much chances of success in this timeframe." She shrugged, showing she was only trying to offer knowledge and information, not to decide for them.

"I think the pill is the best choice," declared Sydney.

"Then I agree." Irina nodded.

"Alright, I have everything you will need. The presence of a doctor is not required but you must follow the instructions carefully. Who will be assisting Nadia in her abortion?" She asked, looking from Sydney to Irina.

"I guess that would be me," said Sydney.

Doctor Geneva started scribbling on a sheet of paper while talking. "What you refer to as 'RU486' is actually a pill, but it's not enough to achieve a complete abortion. It's only part of a protocol, called the 'RU486/PG' procedure. It was named as such because it necessitates the taking of two products. The 'RU486' pill and a prostaglandin, also known as 'PG'. The most prescribed pill is the 'Cytotec', and I think it's the best choice for Nadia."

"How does it work?"

"The RU486 alone guarantees a successful abortion in only 64 to 85 of cases. You will start by giving Nadia three of those blue pills. They are the RU486. Forty-eight hours after that, you will give her two pills of Cytotec. Those two white pills will induce powerful contractions. The embryo will be expulsed within 3 to 6 hours following the taking of those two white pills."

"Okay," whispered Sydney, nodding her head.

"This will be very painful, I can't stress that enough, considering your sister is over the legal period by the standards of the United States."

"I know what I'm getting Nadia and myself into, Doctor, and I take full responsibility. It's the best way for Nadia, I'm sure of that. That's what she would have wanted." Sydney spoke with an air of confidence she didn't have earlier while struggling to reach a decision.

Doctor Geneva nodded silently. "If after 6 hours nothing has happened, give her another pill of Cytotec. The abortion will take place within the following 24 hours."

"What happens when it's over?"

"Bleeding for the next ten days, which is completely normal and should not worry you. Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and painful cramping are also often part of the package. Nadia must see me again, or another gynecologist, 14 days after the procedure. Do you have any questions?"

"Here you go." Sydney put the second pill of Cytotec in Nadia's mouth and watched as her sister swallowed it with a glass of water. The white pill looked as innocent as an aspirin but would soon unleash unbearable pain in Nadia. It was Sydney's decision and she would stand by it and be there to support her sister.

Doctor Geneva left the house two days before, leaving Sydney to feed her sister the RU486 pills. The faster Nadia was rid of the baby she was carrying, the sooner she would have access to the vaccine that would destroy the waste particles in her brain.

The cramps would probably hit during the night, as it was already 22h00. "At the first sign of discomfort on her part, get her to the bathroom," instructed Doctor Geneva.

Sydney lay down in her bed beside Nadia but didn't fall asleep. She sprang up as soon as she felt Nadia twist in the sheets, whimpering plaintively. Her face was already sweaty, mouth set in a grimace of pain.

"Come here." She led her to the bathroom and Nadia sank to the floor, wailing. Sydney went down with her, setting her between her legs, as she held her tightly from behind. Nadia screamed in pain for what seemed like hours while Sydney whispered soothing words to her ears. At some point, she vaguely heard two set of footsteps enter the room she shared with her sister, but didn't turn around.

Sydney didn't want her mother and aunt to see the tears in her eyes. Tears of shame because she didn't protect Nadia and then made the choice to put her through this barbaric procedure. She made the choice to take Nadia's child away from her. What would she tell her if she remembered and asked questions? Moreover, if she didn't remember, should she tell her? How do you tell someone they were raped while unconscious, impregnated, and then aborted by her sister on a bathroom floor?

She softly rocked Nadia and watched as a puddle of thick blood and other unidentifiable materials formed on the floor between her open legs. A puddle that soon grew to a pool. She closed her eyes tightly. How scared Nadia must be feeling.

Finally, it was over. Nadia calmed down during the last few minutes. She was shivering but quiet, probably exhausted. There was blood on her tights and on the hems of her nightgown.

Irina watched, helpless, as her youngest daughter aborted her first child. A child she did not want nor knew she was carrying. A child she should not have been pregnant with in the first place. Irina's first grandchild.

Katya came up behind her sister, who hadn't even noticed her leave, and squeezed her shoulder. She offered a soft smile of sympathy. "I prepared a hot bath for her in my room. It will help with the muscle pains. You two go." More quietly, she added, "I'll clean up here."

Sydney wordlessly carried Nadia to Katya's bathroom and stripped her of her bloodied nightgown with Irina's help. The shower got rid of most of the blood and filth before they put her in the tub.

"Go in my room, I'll take care of Nadia," said Irina, touching Sydney's cheek.

Sydney shuffled away to her mother's room where she stripped off her tank top and pajama bottoms. She threw both in the trashcan. They were too bloody to be recoverable. She didn't want to wear them again anyway. She stepped under the water and uncontrollable sobs over took her. Huddling on the floor, she didn't even notice how hot the water was.

Sydney and Nadia's bathroom was spotless. Katya went to her room to find Irina drying Nadia off. She looked around for her other niece.

"Where's Sydney?"

"Taking a shower in my room." She glanced at her watch. "She's been gone for while," she added, frowning.

"I'll go check on her."

Katya knocked on door of her sister's bathroom. There was no answer but she could hear the water running.

"Sydney, are you okay?" Receiving no answer, she was about to open the door when the doorknob was yanked out of her hand. Sydney stood in the doorway, soaking wet, with a towel wrapped around her. She had a strange expression on her face that chilled Katya.

"I'm fine, Aunt Katya," she said in a clipped tone. "Did you want something?"

"Huh…no, no, just wanted to check on you…"

"Goodnight then."

"Yes, goodnight." She left, puzzling over what just happened.

Sydney found Irina kneeling in front of Nadia putting a sanitary napkin in her pants as per doctor's orders.

"Okay, let's get you back to your room now," she said, getting up.

"Mom…I don't want to be alone tonight," said Sydney, standing by the bathroom door. She didn't dare ask what she really wanted; it was so stupid. She was a grown woman…but she really didn't want to go to bed alone tonight. Nadia would be there, of course, she would have her big sister, but Sydney wouldn't 'have' Nadia, and she needed someone. Someone to comfort her, to tell her everything would be okay. Only her mother could fill this role.

Irina smiled at her kindly, understanding the hidden meaning behind her words. "Then come with me."

They made their way to Irina's bed, where Sydney was assaulted by the overwhelming scent of her mother, in the sheets, the pillows... When she was little, she used to sleep with her mother when her father was away on business. Sometimes, when she was sick, she would be allowed to sleep between both her parents for the whole night. It seemed so far away now, thinking about it.

Irina slid in between her two daughters, hesitantly watching for Nadia's reaction. "Are you sure it's okay for me to…"

"Yeah, she knows you now," Sydney smiled softly at her mother in reassurance. "And I think she kind of likes you."

Irina gave her a startled look but Sydney had already closed her eyes. She couldn't tell if her daughter was joking or not.

Nadia shifted position in order to be more comfortable and leaned on Irina as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Irina's lips displayed a contented smile in the semi darkness of the room. They had left the dresser light on for Nadia's sake. Despite the circumstances, Irina was happy, snuggled between her two daughters for the first time in her life. She breathed in their scents, trying to commit them to memory.

Who knew what the future would bring.

The next day, breakfast was quiet, the atmosphere gloomy. Nadia barely ate and went back to bed as soon as she was done with her food. She was sick, as expected.

They all felt awful for what happened the night before, but none of them wanted to talk. Apparently, it must be a Derevko trait. Sydney didn't know what to do, whom to talk to. Then it dawned on her, she knew whom to call.

"Hello?"

"Hey…"

"…hey…I'm glad you called."

"I'm not…I don't…I'm not ready to…I just needed to talk to someone about…and…you...I…"

"You thought of me."

"Yeah. You were always a good listener."

"I'm always here for you if you need to talk, no matter what is happening between us, but…you know you can't avoid me forever."

"I know Vau…I know. I just need to deal with this, and then…I'll come back, and we'll talk, and maybe…maybe we'll start again."

"I'd like that." She could hear the smile in his voice. "So…what is it that…you want to talk about?"

"It's Nadia…I…did something, I know it was the right thing to do, but it was horrible…I…"

"It's okay, I'm here now Syd."

TBC


	17. Chapter 16: Let's do this

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

_Irina watched, helpless, as her youngest daughter aborted her first child._

"_It's okay, I'm here now Syd."_

**Chapter 16: Let's do this**

"Let's do this." Sydney led the way, Nadia, Irina and Katya behind her.

It had been five days since Sydney aborted Nadia's baby. Doctor Varnina had just cleared Nadia as healthy enough to take the vaccine. The CIA, or rather Chase, was starting to ask questions, and was days away to order her two agents home. Sydney asking for a prolongation of her week-end away had raised the woman's suspicions, and no amount of coaxing from Dixon could change that.

Nadia started to fidget once they arrived downstairs and stepped into the white, pristine laboratory that was Irina's basement.

Irina turned to Sydney, as if to say 'what's wrong with her?'.

"It's this place…it scares her. Reminds her of what she's been through after Sovogda I guess," explained Sydney. She was referring to the time Nadia spent in a padded cell or strapped to her hospital bed with doctors and nurses treating her like a guinea pig. "She gets like that each time I have to take her back for a check up." Nadia tried to go back the way she had come while emitting some sort of whining sound. Sydney caught her and held her by the shoulders, careful not to squeeze too hard.

Irina joined her and they both led her to the table in the centre of the room.

"She needs to lie flat on her stomach, the vaccine must be injected directly into her brain, at the base of the skull," explained Doctor Varnina.

"Come on Nadia, get on the table," encouraged Sydney. "You've done that before, I'll stay with you, it's just for a few minutes, and it's going to be okay."

Sydney couldn't help but lower her eyes as Nadia climbed on the table, her eyes trusting.

"Good, now turn around, yeah like that, you're doing great."

Doctor Varnina approached as Nadia settled on the table, face down. Her body was tense but her sister was holding her hand so everything would be okay.

"You're going to need to hold her. I don't think she will stay still once she understands what I'm going to do." Doctor Varnina winced. She wasn't good with people, she hated to see human beings suffer; hence her choice of career in a pharmaceutical laboratory.

Irina and Katya, the latter rather reluctant, went to pin Nadia's arms and shoulders down while Sydney went to her head, holding it so the back of it was exposed to Doctor Varnina. Sydney squatted to her eye level. "Nadia, it's going to be okay, I promise. You have to hold still now. It won't hurt; it will make you better." She knew Nadia was much too scared to pay attention to what was being said to her but she herself needed to hear the words. That it was the cure she had been hoping for so long.

Nadia kept trying to crane her neck and roll her shoulders, desperately trying to get up. She would have bruises in the morning from her mother and aunt's hands.

"There is no room for mistake," whispered Amélia, breathing heavily from nervousness. She was afraid of what those people would do to her if she failed. Obviously, the skull was too thick to let the needle through. She positioned the needle directly under the base of the skull, in the nape of Nadia's neck, and pinched the skin there. Gently, she pushed the needle through the soft tissues, one millimetre at the time and aiming it upward, toward the brain.

Sydney held her breath. She couldn't see what the doctor was doing, refusing to break eye contact with Nadia. Suddenly her sister stopped crying. Her eyes fluttered and for an instant, she looked puzzled. Then her eyes rolled in their orbits before shutting completely. Her body went slack.

"Mom!" Screamed Sydney in alarm.

"Don't move!" Ordered the doctor. "I'm in and injecting the contents now." She slowly depressed the plunger, more relaxed now that Nadia wasn't struggling anymore.

"Now what?" Asked Sydney as Amélia threw the empty syringe in the wastebasket.

"We wait."

For the next hour, they all stood around the table to which Nadia was still strapped, waiting for a sign from her. Doctor Varnina regularly checked her blood pressure, pulse, and pupils, but never offered more than an approving nod of the head.

Nadia started to whimper in her sleep. Her eyes were shut tight but tears rolled down her cheeks and fell on the table, as she was still in the same position.

"She's in pain," started Sydney, stroking Nadia's hair.

"It's working," declared Doctor Varnina encouragingly.

"We should move her to her room. She would be more comfortable," declared Katya.

"Yes, she needs rest," agreed the doctor.

Sydney carried Nadia to the room they shared and put her to bed. Sydney settled beside her and within minutes, Nadia had curled into a ball in her sister's arms. She was getting more and more agitated though, as if stuck in a violent nightmare. "Its okay sweetheart, I'm here, it's going to be all okay…" Sydney held her tight and talked to her in the most soothing tone, until the wailing was reduced to whimpering. She repeatedly rubbed her back, a move her own mother had performed on her countless times when she was little and sick, in pain, or just scared after a bad dream.

After a few hours, as the sun was setting, Sydney felt Nadia stir against her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around, confused and disoriented.

"What…what…Syd?"

"I'm here Nadia, are you okay?" She looked at her sister concerned. Nadia seemed lost.

"What happened?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Bad…"

"What is the last thing you remember?" Nadia looked upward, concentrating. "It's okay, take your time," encouraged Sydney.

"I don't…its fuzzy…" She looked down at herself in confusion and suddenly gasped. Her eyes went wide. Her mouth moved but no words came out. Tears started streaming down her face, but Sydney didn't notice, shocked by the look of horror in her baby sister's eyes.

"Nadia?"

"Did I…was I…" she was breathing heavily. If Sydney didn't know better, she'd think Nadia was having some sort of panic attack. She finally noticed Nadia's hand was resting, or rather, cramping over her stomach.

"Oh my God…"

"Did I?"

"Nadia, I think you should rest," interrupted Irina, stepping out from the shadows. Night had fallen over an hour ago, and she hadn't dared make her presence known to Nadia before. Her daughter seemed confused enough without adding the presence of her mother whom she barely knew.

"No! I…" Her breathing was erratic, if only the room could stop spinning. "I want to know…I…" She fell back on the bed, unconscious.

"Nadia! Mom, call the doctor!"

Dr. Varnina hurried in at Irina's call and checked Nadia. "She seems in good health, considering the circumstances, and the injection. Her blood pressure is lower than I'd like but nothing a good night's sleep won't cure. Make sure she eats and drinks vitamins for the next few days though. Residues of Cobalt-60 from the vaccine will remain in her blood for a few days, she can't afford to have a low immune system."

"Thank you doctor."

For the next ten hours, Nadia slept. She didn't move a muscle, her sister and mother never left her side for a second, watching her like a hawk for any sign of movement, improvement.

"Hi," greeted Sydney as Nadia slowly sat up on the bed

"Hi," Nadia replied after a long pause.

"How are you feeling?" It was a question to determine if the vaccine worked or not.

"I…feel…tired," slowly replied Nadia, struggling for words.

Sydney laughed heartily. "Good, that's…good, Nadia."

They all lunched in silence. Nadia was happy to see Katya. They all knew they needed to talk but, to Sydney's relief, Nadia seemed to want to put it off as much as she herself did.

"I'm sorry." Sydney said to Nadia later when they were alone.

"Why?"

"A decision needed to be made. Your health was our priority." Sydney started to explain.

"Ours?"

"Mine and Mom's."

"Mom?" Nadia seemed puzzled.

"Yes. She's the one who found the cure. I looked but…it doesn't matter. You're back and you're healthy. Eric is worried about you, you know, we should call him."

"Eric?"

"Yes. He took care of you when…I wasn't there. He's a great guy."

"Yeah, he's great."

"Nadia, what is it?" Sydney almost snapped.

"Hum?"

"You've been repeating what I said for the past five minutes. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah…I just…" She sighed, swallowing her tears. In a tiny voice, she finally asked the question that tormented her. "How…"

"You were raped," replied Sydney before her sister could go further. "I'm sorry."

Nadia struggled with the revelation for a few minutes; then the questions started. "Who…"

"I don't know." She was lying, but Nadia wasn't well enough to read her yet, luckily. "You were unconscious," she added, hoping it would bring her comfort. Anything to rid her eyes of their emptiness.

"I guessed as much. I remember everything since…Sovogda. It's just bits and pieces, little pictures. You. Eric. It's all fuzzy and disordered but…I know I'm missing a few days in all, maybe weeks."

"We can look into it later, when we're back in LA if you want. Together."

"Yeah. I need to know, to…" She sighed, shaking her head.

"They kept you in a coma at first, to heal your bullet wound." Nadia needed closure, and Sydney couldn't give her that, yet.

"I remember…on the roof. Pain. Was it you?"

"Your father. He saved me."

"From me?"

"Yes." There were no lies to be told, what use would it be. She owed Nadia the truth. All of them did.

"I remember hitting you. Several times. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Sydney put her hand on Nadia's arm.

"Thank you for…taking care of me like that. I know it must have been hard."

"It was but…I'm your sister. I couldn't leave you in that hospital. I'm just sorry I couldn't…prevent all this from happening." She needed to get out of there or she would burst into tears.

"You cured me. You didn't let anything stop you. I know what you're not telling me about you and Irina's 'work'. I'm not naïve. You probably broke a few laws, and I'm grateful for that, Sydney. I knew you and Eric wouldn't let me down."

Sydney winced at the mention of Eric's name, but Nadia didn't question her. "Do you feel ready to go back?"

"I don't know. There's…so much to deal with. Mom, Sloane…Sofya."

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

"I knew she was evil but…how could she do that to me? I thought she had some sort of feelings for me when I was little but…none of it was real, never. She stuck that needle in my neck without any remorse!"

"I'm so sorry Nadia…so sorry. You've been betrayed in the worst kind of way, I know how you must feel…"

"Don't go there. I just want to forget about it," she snapped, choosing anger over regrets where 'Sofya' was concerned.

"You have Mom now."

"I know. It's just too much too fast, you know. I have almost three months of thoughts and stuff I saw to analyse. I just need time."

Sydney and her mother were alone on the beach, saying their goodbyes. Sydney would leave for LA with Nadia in three hours and Irina was not ready to let go yet. She had gotten used to Sydney's presence and visits. She enjoyed having breakfast, lunch and dinner with her. She enjoyed having her around period. With her new job, it would be hard for her eldest daughter to slip away to visit a wanted terrorist. This might be the last time mother and daughter saw each other. Neither of them could afford to admit it, even to themselves, but they were both equally devastated over their separation.

"Will you call him when you get home?"

"Mom…" Sydney sighed, rolling her eyes. She should have expected it.

Nadia was in her room, mulling over everything that had happened. She needed some time alone and Sydney respected that, though now she had her sister back, she was reluctant to let her out of her sight, even though she knew the house was heavily guarded.

"I want you to be happy sweetheart, to not make the same mistakes your father and I made. Let him talk; forgive him if you have it in you. Please, if you don't take action immediately, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Stop waiting for an opportunity. It may not come. You have to provoke things sometimes in life. I'm not asking you to marry a man you don't love. I'm asking you to give him a chance. Trust me, you won't regret it, and if you do, I'll take care of him," she concluded on a lighter note.

Sydney smiled. "Mom, I already called him…I needed to talk to someone," she added hesitantly, fearing her mother might think she was being rejected. "I promise to call him again, to talk about us this time. We have a few hours before my flight. Can we stop talking about him and concentrate on us now?"

"Gladly. I'll start. I know you lied to me."

"What?"

"You know who raped your sister and I want you to tell me." Irina's dark eyes probed Sydney's face.

"What? Mom I have no idea what you're talking about!" She protested vehemently.

Irina looked at her sternly. "Sydney, I am very serious about this. Talk. Now."

"Or what?" She asked, defiantly.

"I'll let APO know what you did."

Sydney stared, mouth hanging open. Literally. "You wouldn't."

"You're right. I couldn't bare the idea of knowing where you would spend the rest of your life. But I won't hesitate to contact your father and tell him you've been working with me."

"We had a good thing going, why do you have to always ruin everything?" Sydney asked, eyes moistening.

Irina sighed and pulled her daughter in a hug. "Sweetheart, I love you, but I don't want you to get in trouble. I know you know that man from the hospital. I know you want to avenge your sister but as much as I want to see whoever raped her suffer, it is not your prerogative to be the judge, jury and executioner."

"But it's yours?" Sydney said angrily, pulling away from her mother's embrace.

"Yes. Because I won't be jeopardizing the rest of my life by going after that man. You've done enough Sydney. Let me finish this."

"I trusted him! You're right, I know that guy. He's with APO. He treated me a couple of times before. I couldn't believe when I saw…he deserves to die."

"All the more reason to let me handle this."

"No! I want to be a part of it!"

"Fine. You can participate if you want, but nevertheless, don't you think Nadia deserves to know? To get revenge? Sydney you can't take that away from her. You need to tell her what we are going to do. She needs to be a part of it. She deserves closure."

Sydney lowered her head, a single tear falling on her cheek.

Her mother was right. She had taken so much away from her sister already.

TBC


	18. Chapter 17: Home sweet home

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

Chapter 17: Home sweet home 

Neither Nadia nor Sydney spoke a word on the plane ride back to Los Angeles. Nadia had so many issues to deal with that her sister couldn't tell what was on her mind at the moment.

Sydney too had a lot on her mind. First, she had to figure out a way to explain her sister's miraculous recovery without involving her mother. Then there was the issue she and Irina had discussed before separating. Doctor Jain. The oh-so-nice Indian doctor who had treated Sydney for a bite on the neck was the one. He was the culprit who had raped Nadia while she was unconscious. The saying 'don't trust what you see' wouldn't leave her head ever since she'd seen his face on the tape, while he was moving back and forth between Nadia's legs..

Sydney promised her mother she would let Nadia have a piece of the guy, so she could get 'closure'. She knew her mother wanted her pound of flesh as well, and so did she. Getting their hands on the 'good doctor' would be a piece of cake, but she needed to talk Nadia before anything else. The question was, 'how'?

Eric had returned to LA several days before. He wanted to stay for the administration of the cure but Sydney insisted he should go back to work or risk Chase's wrath. Eric had accepted, after all, Nadia was safe and he really hated family vacations. Irina and Katya tended to make him creepy.

Two agents were waiting by Sydney's car when Nadia and she made their way out of Terminal 4. They strongly encouraged her to come to APO and meet Director Chase before going anywhere else.

So here she was, with Nadia, walking toward her office, escorted by two agents. Everybody was looking at them. First, because they heard their director was in trouble, but mainly because they all knew of Nadia's condition, and now were seeing her move freely through the office like nothing happened.

"Director Chase," greeted Sydney seeing the woman sitting in her chair behind her desk. Sydney spotted a flicker of surprise on Chase's face but her boss quickly recovered.

"Director Bristow. Agent Santos."

"Director," simply replied Nadia, looking from her sister in confusion after hearing her new title.

"I think you have some explaining to do, Director Bristow," started Chase, barely hiding her fury. "Your sister being in the condition she is can only mean you went behind my back."

"Yes, I did."

Chase was surprised at her confession and moved in for the kill. "This is unacceptable behaviour, and as acting supervisor of the APO branch, I hereby demote you…"

"Director Chase, before you get any ideas, I'd like to remind you that, as Director of this division, I am entitled to a certain level of privacy. I got a lead and pursued it, expecting it to be a dead end like the others and unworthy of bothering you with it. However, this time, I succeeded, so here's my report." She handed Chase a red floppy drive containing a few pages she had typed on her laptop on the plane. It explained how she got an anonymous tip about Doctor Frankel's work, found his files and had a chemist she knew from her days at SD-6 concoct an antidote for Nadia.

She made no mention of her mother, aunt, or of Doctor Varnina. Irina had released the woman and her daughter with enough money to allow her to retire and send her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to any Ivy League college in the country. She would not talk.

"Well, I'll have to have this verified. In the meantime, consider yourself on paid administrative leave. You may go."

"Gladly." Sydney smiled briefly, a twinkle in her eyes but didn't overdo it. Chase would be capable of putting her in a cell for gloating. "Come on let's go, there's someone who's impatient to see you I'm sure." She gently lead Nadia out of her office and then into the metro.

Thirty minutes later, they were standing before their apartment building. Sydney went over to her apartment and glanced back to see Nadia headed to the next door. Weiss's head popped out after Nadia rang the bell. He smiled broadly at her, ecstatic.

"Nadia! It's you! It's really you!" He took a step outside and engulfed her in one of his trademark bear hugs.

She gave him a slight smile and hugged him shyly in return. She waved at Sydney as she went in Eric's apartment.

Sydney swept her living room with her eyes. Nothing had changed since her departure with Nadia a few days earlier. Weiss must have moved back into his apartment as soon as she'd left. Her eyes caught the phone message machine blinking red light. It indicated 23 messages were left in her absence but she didn't bother checking them now. Instead, she dialed Vaughn's number. He answered on the first ring, as if he'd been standing by the phone all day, waiting.

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's me. I'm back in LA."

"Great! Is Nadia okay?"

"Yeah, she's…herself again. We haven't talked much. She's at Weiss's now."

"So…is it over? I mean…are you ready to…start again?"

"I think we need to talk."

"Of course, where are you? Your apartment? Do you want me to come over?"

"No. I'd rather we meet somewhere…neutral. At the pier, one hour?"

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Bye." She hung up.

She could hear the smile in his voice and had one on her face too. She felt full of energy despite the long flight she endured and went to take a shower and change for her 'date'. She was going on a date with Vaughn. The thought made her giddy but also nervous. She feared he might hurt her again. However, sometimes in life you had to take a chance.

She tried to think about what to tell him, how to start, but she couldn't find the proper words. Maybe she should just let him talk, as he had tried to do in the hospital.

She would never speak of what she knew about his father to him, or the reason Irina killed him. It was ironical, that all these years, Irina had been deemed 'the bad guy' by them both for killing William Vaughn, and that now, he turned out to be a sadistic rapist KGB officer.

Vaughn was convinced, like everybody else, CIA included, that Irina had killed Bill, and it would remain this way. It was her mother's wish.

In Weiss's apartment, Nadia was curled up on the couch against Eric. She told him everything. Everything she remembered that is and he filled in the blanks for her. He held her while she grieved for her lost child…and for Sofya's betrayal.

Eric was sweet. He brought her water, tissues, and just held her while she cried. She went back to her apartment at nightfall. Sydney wasn't there but Nadia found a note from Sydney pinned on the kitchen counter saying she had gone out for coffee with Vaughn. Nadia smiled to herself. Weiss filled her in earlier about Vaughn and Sydney's problem. He sounded pessimistic about their relationship and she was glad to find out things seemed to be headed the right way for her sister.

Her own relationship with Eric had been damaged by the aftermath of Sovogda. Namely, her condition of 'zombie'. She remembered him bathing her like a child, dressing her, sometimes feeding her. She threw food in his face on multiple occasions but he always made sure she ate and drank enough anyway. He never looked at her the wrong way, or took advantage of the situation. She remembered hitting him…and Sydney too. She had screamed, kicked, and punched but neither of them had ever relented.

She made herself a cup of tea and settled on the couch. She didn't bother to turn the TV on, instead was lost in her thoughts.

Nadia heard the door open an hour later. She hadn't touched her tea, her mind clogged with thoughts of what happened to her. Talking to Weiss had helped but she wasn't healed. Far from it. She smiled brightly at her sister.

"Hey, you're back!"

"Hey! Sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving…"

"It's okay, I found your note."

"How was it at Eric's?"

"Okay…we talked, I cried, he listened."

"He's a great guy."

"He is. How was your date with Vaughn? Weiss told me about you two."

"Oh it wasn't a date, just coffee, casual. Two friends."

"You two will never be just friends Syd."

Sydney looked at her, shaken by the statement, made with such conviction. "Maybe you're right," she admitted, lowering her head. "We're trying to take things slow. Not repeat the same mistakes. Mom told me a lot and he came clean, filled in the gaps. We both needed that so we could really move on, together or otherwise." Her mind went back to the conversation she had had with Vaughn earlier in the day.

The pier, earlier:  
"I was not born Michael Vaughn, but I'm still your Vaughn, I'm still the guy who loves hockey and gave you a picture frame for our first Christmas. I'm still the guy who would go to the end of the world to find you, I haven't changed, and you just have more insight about me. You've always known the real me. I only hid my name and my origins, it doesn't change who I am."

"But how can I trust you after you lied to me for so many years?"

"I never lied to you about anything else, Sydney."

Sydney's apartment, now.  
"I think things are going to work out for you two," said Nadia with a confident smile.

"Yeah." She sighed and came to sit with her little sister. "So how are things with Eric? I mean, before Sovogda, you two seemed headed toward a more intimate relationship."

Nadia let out a quiet laugh. "Ah, you picked up on that huh?"

"Hard not to. Come on, spill."

"I like him. I really do but…I'm not ready to be intimate with him. After what happened…I mean it was the next step, it was what I had in mind at least, but now…I don't know if I can."

"Why not?"

Nadia exhaled loudly, carefully choosing her words. "It's just weird. There's all that stuff that keeps popping in my head and there's so much missing…It's like I'm stuck on that, I can't get past it. I'm obsessed."

"You need to deal with it, Nadia."

"I know! Sorry. I just don't know how."

After a while, Sydney got up and went to her room without a word. She came back with an APO file in her hand. Nadia looked at her questioningly. "You need closure." She said in way of explanation.

Nadia hesitantly took the red folder from her sister and frowned in confusion as she read its contents. "I don't understand."

"Doctor Jain is the guy you're looking for."

"I don't get it. He treated me after Anna branded me in the neck, but I don't know him."

"He also treated you after Sovogda. He was part of the team who treated your bullet wound and then worked on ridding you of the waste particles stored in your brain." She then told Nadia all about the procedures she had underwent while unconscious and the reasons why. 

"Wait…you mean…he's the one?" Sydney looked at her impassively, waiting for her sister to say the words, knowing saying it meant dealing with it, psychologically speaking. Nadia went on. "The one that…raped me?"

"Yes."

"But you told me…"

"I lied. I didn't think you needed to know."

Nadia's face hardened in anger. "And what made you change your mind?"

"Mom. She said you needed to be a part of it."

"'It' what?"

"Torturing him…cutting him to pieces…feeding him to the sharks. Whatever you want, but Mom and I want in on it also."

TBC


	19. Chapter 18: The Derevko revenge

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

"_Doctor Jain is the guy you're looking for."__  
_  
_"Wait…you mean…he's the one? The one that…raped me?"_

"_Torturing him…cutting him to pieces…feeding him to the sharks. Whatever you want, but Mom and I want in on it also."_

Chapter 18: The Derevko revenge 

"Doctor Jain!" The man turned around, startled, to find Sydney Bristow hurrying toward him.

"Hello, Agent Bristow…I mean, Director Bristow. I heard about your promotion, congratulations." He returned her smile and they shook hands.

"Thank you."

They were in the parking garage of the Stafford Naval Hospital where Sydney and Nadia were treated, like many agents of the CIA and APO. Sydney looked around the deserted area, acutely aware of the cameras covering every angle of the parking. Jain was supposed to finish his shift at 21h00 and it was now nearing midnight. The good doctor didn't mind putting in extra work apparently.

"Were you injured?" He inquired kindly, searching for obvious sign of injuries.

"No, I was just here to fill in some paperwork for Nadia," she explained. He didn't flinch at the mention of her sister. "I had a long day at the office and could only come in now. I'm on my way home." She motioned toward her SUV, parked a few rows away.

"Oh, of course, sorry for keeping you. Here, I'll walk you to your car."

They made their way to alley 7 and he held the door open for her like a true gentleman. She had to muster all her training to keep a polite smile on her face and not rip his eyeballs out.

"Goodbye Doctor."

"Goodbye Director Bristow, take care."

Her car emitted a pitiful cough when she turned the key in the ignition and then nothing. Doctor Jain came back toward her as her third attempt failed. She popped the hood and slammed the door behind her.

"I don't see anything wrong," he said, frowning in contemplation of her motor. "But then again, I specialise in the human body, not car engines."

She chuckled, pretending to be smitten with him, and adopted a sorrowful frown. "Damn, it picked the worst time to die on me. I have to get home now. I left Nadia with a friend but she'll freak if she doesn't see me before going to bed."

"Well…I suppose I could drive you home. You won't get a tow truck in here tonight anyway."

She resisted the urge to smile in triumph. The man was doing everything she had thought he would. A perfect gentleman. Her plan was working to perfection.

"Really? It would be so nice of you, thank you!" She put a "broke down" sign on her windshield. The security here was tight and her parking pass only allowed her to stay for two hours. She didn't need a zealous soldier deem her car a security risk and tow it away to have it blown up. She made a show of closing the hood and locking her car for the cameras' sake before following the good doctor to his car.

He didn't know where she lived so she gave him directions. To his surprise, thirty minutes later, they didn't end up at her house but on the docks. He never noticed the SUV with tainted windows that was following him since they'd left the hospital.

He looked at her in confusion. "I don't understand, you don't live here," he told her, looking thoroughly confused.

"No, I don't. Sorry to drag you out here at such an hour but…I wanted you to meet someone."

He shivered. Something was wrong with her. She looked at him with a scowl on her face and she sounded cold. It suddenly dawned on him then, alas too late: she knew. She knew what he'd done. His door was pulled open from the outside and before his very eyes stood the infamous Irina Derevko. He recognised her easily because of her resemblance to her daughter. Before he could react, she grabbed him by his jacket lapel and threw him on the ground where he landed roughly. Rolling in the dirt until he faced the ceiling, he noticed a third person was there. Nadia Santos.

She glared down at him and kicked him in the head hard enough for him to black out.

When he awoke, he'd been moved from the floor to another part of the warehouse. He knew he hadn't changed location though because he could still see his car, parked at the same spot he'd left it.

The three women were standing a few feet away, talking among themselves. Probably plotting his death. If he was lucky it'd be quick but he had no such illusions. He had no doubt he would not walk out of this place alive. He'd heard rumours about Sydney Bristow and Irina Derevko. Even if they usually were on opposite sides, they were a family. He'd attacked one of them and there would be hell to pay for it soon.

He'd been stupid, certain he wouldn't get caught. After all, the girl was supposed to stay insane for the rest of her life. Locked up in a padded cell where he could have access to her all he wanted. But her sister, the sweet Sydney, had insisted on checking her out of the facility and taking her home with her. Then, she'd apparently found a cure and discovered about his little 'infatuation'.

The CIA screened for people like him. They had tests, questions, psychological analyses to keep what they called 'bad elements' or 'unstable people' from their ranks. He'd passed with flying colours. He hadn't been detected as a sociopath or a psychopath. Everybody saw him as a kind, caring doctor. Over the years, he'd been careful to preserve that image. His superiors. His colleagues. His patients. All of them bought it. Even Sydney and Jack Bristow.

Nadia Santos was just one among others. He wasn't a pervert, just an opportunist. People called that a sickness. They had medication now, to get rid of one's uncontrollable urges. But his were controlled. He was careful whom he picked and when he picked them.

He caught the voice of Sydney. She was talking to her sister and seemed angry.

"You will not see that tape."

"I need to know, Sydney," softly argued Nadia. "Mom?"

"Don't 'mom' me, sweetheart. I tried…Sydney destroyed the whole archive and has the only copy of…the video." Irina shook her head, apparently irritated at being dictated her conduct by her eldest daughter.

"I thought you wouldn't want anybody else to see it," whispered Sydney, squeezing her sister's shoulder.

"Thank you. Really. But I need closure…"

"That's why we're here. Believe me, you don't need to get those pictures in your head. Trust me Nadia, I'm doing this for you." She glanced at the man they'd dumped a few feet away from them.

From the corner of his eye he saw Agent Bristow glare at him when their eyes met. She nudged her mother and the three women walked to him. He couldn't help but marvel at their beauty, their striking resemblance.

There was no fear in his eyes, no regret, for he felt. He never felt much of anything. Sydney and Derevko walked toward him, a cold, determined look on their faces. Nadia stayed back, watching. He did not try to get up, did not struggle. Until Derevko grabbed him and slammed him against a wall before literally nailing his hands to it. He looked down at himself in stupefaction, his feet dangling a few inches above the ground. Pain registered in his hands, where nails stuck in his palms held him in place. Lastly, his eyes laid on the nail gun Derevko was holding in her hands. She smiled at him.

"He'll hold for a few hours," she said, looking over her elder daughter. He didn't know if she meant he'd live or remain stuck in his current position for a few hours. It did not matter. For the first time in a very long time, he felt scared, and he didn't like the feeling at all.

"You've done that before, haven't you?"

"Yes. Nails can seem a little…old fashioned at first sight, but it's easy to use and procure and is very painful."

"Tooth extraction is painful as hell too," mumbled Sydney somberly.

"That's why I brought a few more toys with me. We can do it all." She sighed and turned her full attention to Sydney. "About that, I meant to apologise for what happened during your first visit in Taipei. I wasn't there when you came, but I did receive a report of your break-in, capture, interrogation and escape. Brilliant, as always. I'm just sorry you had to meet Doctor Lee."

Sydney smirked but didn't offer a reply as Nadia appeared at their side, her eyes intent on Dr Jain. She exulted contempt but her hesitance was visible as she lazily let her hand travel over a set of instruments lying on a table. The doctor recognised every single one. He was, after all, a surgeon. The irony of the situation was not lost on him.

A scalpel, a lancet, a drill, a rasp, a retractor, a haemostat, tweezers, forceps, a few needles and even some kind of miniaturised laser. Everything you needed to inflict pain, cut open someone and poke around their body. Nothing was missing. An involuntary shiver made its way through his body.

Irina picked up a scalpel. "You don't have to do that if you don't want to Nadia," she started softly, holding on to the tool. "I am perfectly capable of finishing the job. I promise you he'll suffer for what he did."

"It's not that…I mean…I want to, I hate him, he's a bastard, he deserves it…it's just that…"

"You've never done that before," interrupted Sydney, realising her sister's dilemma.

Nadia lowered her head down, feeling like an idiot. "I'm new in the intelligence business, I only fulfilled one assignment for Argentinean intelligence before that thing in Chechnya. And then I got recruited by the CIA. I didn't exactly learned torture. Just to spy, steal, blend in, defuse bombs and look pretty. And fight too, but I already knew a lot in that area before...I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't want to kill him too fast you know."

Sydney smiled kindly at her. "Torturing someone isn't something they teach at the Farm either, trust me." Actually, she had no clue since she'd never had to go through training at the renowned Farm like her fellow CIA agents. It was Vaughn that had told her about his training there, and it didn't include torture. SD-6 didn't train her in that field either. "It's going to sound stupid but it's something you learn by yourself, on the job, literally."

Nadia gave her a puzzled look, so Irina butted in. "You were never captured, Nadia, were you?"

"No. But they taught us what to do in that eventuality."

"That's not my point. What Sydney is trying to tell you is that, when torturing someone, each individual as his own patterns. There is no manual teaching how to inflict pain and keep one's prisoner alive and conscious for as long as possible. You just do what has been done to you, what you know from personal experience. You reproduce what you learned from your captors, interrogators, and go on from that."

"Oh." Her face fell. She looked from Sydney to Irina. "Oh."

"But of course," started Sydney, "you can inspire yourself from movies, TV series…ever seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Nip/Tuck maybe?"

"Oh yeah, the show with the two hotshots surgeons from Miami, right?"

"Yeah that's the one!"

"It's so gross…oh, okay, I get it know." After a minute of reflection, she gave the man a wicked smile. "I feel like making that jackass a new smile." She took the scalpel from her mother's proffered hand and caught the woman's smile before turning to her 'canvas'.

So began the nightmare of Doctor Maneesha Jain.

Somewhere within the underground levels of the JTF in Los Angeles, a man sat on a thin bed in a cell, staring at the tiled ground. He had no books, no pillow, no blanket. He deserved nothing, he'd been told. The people holding him interrogated him tirelessly. He'd been passed on from hand to hand to end up here. He'd never seen this place before, but the guard who brought him his meals had told him who had occupied this very cell before him. Irina Derevko. How ironic.

The man had laughed and added Sloane would spend the rest of his life in this cell and probably die in it. Of old age. Arvin couldn't imagine a crueller punishment than to stare at the same bricks for the rest of his life. And it was cold in here.

The buzz rang as the bars rose, rising Arvin from his thoughts. The aforementioned guard appeared, a lunch tray in his hands. He snickered at his prisoner before shoving the food through the hole in the glass panel of the cell. Arvin watched him with dead eyes, and frowned as the man went back the way he came from. Usually he stayed to watch him eat. Something about regulations, a guard had told him one day. So why didn't the guard stay today? Arvin didn't care either way. He had stopped fomenting plans and wondering about the little details of his monotone everyday life a long time ago.

He dug in his plate and hastily swallowed spoonful after spoonful of mashed potatoes. The thing tasted awful but it wouldn't stay lukewarm very long so he always ate as soon as the plate was given to him. It was the only source of heat he had access to.

Something itched in his throat, like when you're about to cough. He massaged his neck, hoping to make it go away but it only got worse. He gulped down a glass of ice cold water and licked his lips as he felt liquid dripping from his mouth. Except it wasn't water like he'd assumed but blood. His blood. It dawned on him then as he glanced at his unfinished plate. His lunch was laced with tiny pieces of sharp edged glass.

He tried to scream but the pieces of glass he swallowed had shredded his pharynx and probably severed his vocal cords. The pain was so intense. A gurgle of blood spluttered out of his mouth onto the glass wall. He looked at the cameras with desperation in his eyes. They widened in horror. The cameras were off. Nobody could see him.

Someone laced his lunch, turned off the cameras in his cell and paid the guard to leave his duty. Someone with enough power had gotten to him even though he was in a CIA bunker. Someone was trying to kill him and doing a very good job at it. Irina Derevko was the only name that came to mind. He could only assume that the woman had finally learned about what he'd done to their daughter while Irina was in Elena's clutches.

Derevko had a strange habit of hurting her children but getting mad when someone else did. There was a time when she was as obsessed as him by Rambaldi. Back then, she would have injected Nadia with the green fluid herself. Now, she was making him pay for doing that.

He collapsed on the ground, thick blood still coming out of his mouth in a slow trickle.

"Agent Bristow…Sydney…please, help me!" Begged Doctor Jain in one of the last lucid moment he'd experience. He knew of the three she was the most likely to stop this madness. He'd been nice to her and she was so human. Surely she wouldn't let her mother and sister kill him.

His face ached were Nadia had cut him first, enlarging his smile up to his ears. Then, she had literally peeled his eyebrows off his face, cutting the skin around it. His nose had been attacked as well. "Are you going for Michael Jackson," had asked Sydney to her younger sister when Nadia had started poking his nose with a little motorised drill.

On Sydney's initiative they had taken turns to pull out all of his 32 teeth, careful that he could not swallow and choke on them. Then they'd moved to his upper body. He wasn't a hairy man and Nadia had madly carved his body. He was bleeding from every little cut she had inflicted. So much that he couldn't see what intricate design she'd been going for. Pain had no secret for him now. Dull, shooting, itching, burning… His back was left intact.

Derevko stepped forward when Nadia was finished with her carving. "Shall we continue down, sweetheart?"

Nadia swallowed hard, the hand holding the surgical tool shook. She'd gotten a little carried away with the doctor and hated how he made her feel. The man, the so-called man never begged. He'd screamed, a lot, but he'd never asked her to stop, never apologised or asked for her forgiveness.

What she was doing to him made her feel queasy when it was supposed to ease her pain. She wanted to feel better. Needed to. And if hurting him like he'd hurt her didn't accomplish that, then what would? She hoped an apology would, an explanation maybe. But the man remained mute when his throat was too sore to scream.

She would carry on until she felt better. Until she got something other than screams out of him. She had no better solution.

Quite some time later, the Indian man expired his last breath. His body was bloodless. He'd begged, apologised and screamed all at once in the end, shortly after she'd moved down to his masculinity. It made her feel better, but she still felt…different. Now she could see the end of the tunnel, which was an improvement from just torment and pain.

Her mother and sister surrounded her, contemplating Doctor Jain.

"What do we do about the body?" Asked Sydney to her mother.

"I'll call your father. He's good at this, from what I understand it's always been part of his job for SD-6. Clean up the messes. That scumbag is CIA. They may be even already looking for him. We can't afford him to be linked to us. And after all, it's only fair Jack be a part of this."

"Why is that?" Asked Nadia, confused.

Irina sighed and looked away from the dead man. "Nadia, there is something I need to tell you. It might not be the perfect time but…it cannot wait longer. It's about your father."

"Sloane? What does he have to…"

"Not Sloane. He's not your father, sweetheart."

"What?" She gasped, her mind reeling. "Then who the hell…" she started, angry.

"Jack." She needn't say more and carefully watched her daughter's reaction.

"How…why…"

"You all assumed you were Sloane's because of…my indiscretion with him."

"Oh." She noticed Sydney didn't look surprised. "Wait, you knew about this?"

Startled, her sister hurriedly corrected her assumption. "No, no! I mean yes, but Mom told me while you were…out of it."

"Oh, okay then." Nadia was glad her sister hadn't been hiding things from her. She sometimes forgot how much time had passed while she was 'out of it'. She remembered many things but not all of it. She wasn't lucid at all times, she realised that now.

"Nadia, I told Jack about you. Just before the mission to Sovogda."

"You did?"

"I…hinted, but I know he knows. He probably had a DNA test made to confirm my sayings."

"So why didn't he say anything?"

"When could he?" Softly asked Sydney.

"Oh, yeah, right, out of it. Okay."

"Relax, Nadia. Everything's going to be okay." Sydney came to hug her little sister. Nadia seemed so distressed over everything that was falling on her all at once. She wasn't sure she'd deal any better if she were in her place.

They waited in silence for Jack to arrive and dispose of the body. Nadia was lost in thoughts, wondering about what she would say to her father when he arrived but also what he would say to her.

She made a silent prayer that things turn out okay. She wasn't eager for a relationship with the man. She had no illusions, seeing his and Sydney's relationship. Maybe lunch or dinner once a month would be a good start. Or was it too much to ask for? She'd have to ask Sydney for advice about that. God was she nervous to meet her 'new' father!

Hopefully, that one wouldn't pump her full of Rambaldi fluid.

TBC


	20. Chapter 19: Tying up loose ends

FAMILY MATTERS

Eyghon

_Sloane could only assume that Irina Derevko had finally learned what he'd done to their daughter while Irina was in Elena's clutches. He collapsed on the ground, thick blood still coming out of his mouth in a slow trickle._

"_Sloane is not your father, Nadia."_

_They waited in silence for Jack to arrive and dispose of the body. Nadia was lost in thoughts, wondering about what she would say to her father when he arrived but also what he would say to her._

Chapter 19: Tying up loose ends 

Less than twenty minutes later, Jack's sedan pulled up next to the late doctor's car. He briefly looked at the body before settling on Irina, Sydney, and Nadia. His three girls. It was the first time he thought of them as such. When Irina had called him and explained the situation, he'd first been angry with her for dragging Sydney into this. It was after all, a murder. Then he'd felt left out, excluded from his family. He was tired of being Sydney's father. He wanted to be Sydney's 'and' Nadia's father. Irina told him he was, that she'd told the truth to Nadia, and that they needed him to clean up for them.

He gave a small smile to Nadia and discreetly sighed in relief that she returned it. Nobody spoke and 'his three girls' merely watched him wrap the body of the monster who'd raped his younger daughter and throw it in the trunk of the doctor's car. He drove away with it and came back some half an hour later to pick up his own car. Sydney, Irina, and Nadia were still there and talking.

"Is it done?" Asked Irina when he approached them.

"Yes. I trust you cleaned up here as well?"

"We did," answered Sydney.

"Jack, the girls and I were thinking…it would be nice to have breakfast together. It's been a long night for all of us and…well, the four of us are here so we might as well go somewhere and eat."

"I think that's a very good idea, Irina." He gave his wife and eldest daughter a real smile, the first in a very long time for Sydney, and they left the way they'd came. Jack leading the way in his Lincoln sedan and Irina, Sydney and Nadia in the SUV Irina rented.

To the women's surprise, Jack stopped at 'Denny's', a family diner, of all places. They gave him odd looks and he merely shrugged before holding the door open for them.

"A table for four, please," he asked the hostess. It was still early so the place was deserted, which suited them just fine.

"You can settle anywhere you like," answered the hostess while grabbing menus.

Jack chose a corner booth with view on the entire restaurant. They slid in the red banquette one by one. First Sydney, then Nadia, followed by Jack and finally Irina. The hostess handed them each a menu and promised to come back in five minutes.

"So, Nadia, do you like diner food?" Asked Jack, a little uncomfortable sitting between his wife and youngest daughter.

"Yeah! It's the thing I missed most when I left the US to go back to Argentina when you first found me. That and Sydney, of course."

Jack felt warm inside. Here, sitting in a diner with his family. He had no idea how they'd all ended up here, but he could see now, why he'd made this choice. The place was quiet, not stuffy, or fancy, and it was a place to take your family.

"Really? Then, what do you think I should order?" He eyed the menu dubiously.

"Everything is okay. However, the spicy chicken with potatoes and country biscuits is good. It comes with eggs and a plate of pancakes."

"Spicy chicken it is then. Thank you."

Sydney and Irina exchanged a knowing look; both relieved Jack was trying to connect with Nadia on his own, without them needing to push him. He'd made progress since he'd first 'reconnected' with Sydney so many years ago.

They ended up ordering the same thing. Spicy chicken with eggs, country biscuits and gravy, and pancakes on the side. Jack declined Nadia's advice to order a glass of diet coke to go with it, but ordered coffee with cream.

Sydney suddenly bowed her head and coughed.

"Syd? You okay?" Asked Nadia, worried.

Sydney lifted her head but couldn't hide her smile and chuckled at the look on her counterpart's faces. "Sorry. I'm fine. I'm better than fine actually. It's just that…I feel funny being with you guys. Don't you?"

"Hell yes!" Nadia grinned. Arvin Sloane would have never taken her to such a place. Since she'd learned her father's real identity, she couldn't help but take note of all the differences between the two men. She was glad for each one of them.

"I'll admit it's not what I had in mind when I suggested we have breakfast together but…I suppose it's only fair to be here. We're a family. Where else could we get breakfast at six in the morning? And no, Sydney, despite what you always thought when you were a child, MacDonald's doesn't qualify as breakfast to me."

"You remember that?" Sydney was surprised, and even more so when she spotted her father's lips twitching. She turned to Nadia and explained. "When I was little, I'd always begged them to take me to MacDonald's on Sunday morning, because their pancakes were better than Mom's…"

"They were not," interrupted Irina in a very serious tone.

"Whatever." Sydney gave her a teasing smile and her mother replied in kind.

"Don't "whatever" me young lady!"

"Or what, I'm grounded?" Sydney froze before she even finished her sentence. She couldn't believe how stupid she was. Thankfully, her mother quickly recovered her ability to speak, though she was clearly shaken by Sydney's choice of words. Neither Jack nor Nadia understood the heavy silence, but they didn't dare interrupt what they felt was an important moment for Sydney and Irina.

"Sweetheart, I love you very much. You know that, right?"

"Of course Mom! I'm so sorry for what I said, I didn't realise…"

"The past always comes back and haunt us. It's what it is. But its okay, as long as you know it is the past."

"I do. Know." She hoped her eyes conveyed what she felt inside. Love and trust. For doubting her mother's love was nothing but a bad memory.

In the past.

Arvin Sloane woke up in a hospital bed, with no idea of what had happened since his collapse in his cell. His mouth felt like it was full of sand, and his throat was painful. A woman hovered over him. He would have gasped if not for the fact that his vocal cords had been severed by the glass he accidentally ingested.

"Did you think I would just let you die there, Arvin?"

He gave her a slight smile or something approaching one.

She smiled and came closer as he gurgled. "I wanted to do this myself. I wanted you to suffer and I needed to get you away from that bunker you were buried in. Call it killing two birds with one stone."

He looked around him, desperate. "Now you are mine, Arvin. No one is coming for you. We're alone. Just like you were alone with my Nadia. How fitting. My only regret is that Sydney and Nadia couldn't be here."

"Before I forget, Nadia is not your daughter. She's Jack's. He knew it; he only lied so you would feel compelled to protect her. Instead, you scumbag, you hurt her. It was a terrible miscalculation on the part of Jack and I have rectified it before coming here. You should have seen her face at learning you weren't her father. How delighted she looked. Like a child at Christmas."

He couldn't speak but winced at the pain in his heart. He couldn't believe how much it hurt, to know he'd been played, but mostly, to know Nadia didn't love him after all he'd done for her.

"I'm not like you Arvin. Family matters to me. I'll always protect my girls. Always."

She brutally brought up the knife she was holding and stabbed him in the heart. He gasped, and his eyes were wide with surprise and pain and it was delicious to her. She left the knife in place, not bothering to wipe off her prints. She didn't hide from the cameras on her way out either. She wanted them to know Irina Derevko was not out of the game. She wanted them to know whomever messed with her daughters would, eventually, be punished.

First and foremost, she was a mother and a mother protects her children against the evildoers of the world.

THE END


End file.
